Irene Design

I finally get to tell you...

2011-12-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

...we are moving!!

We have spent the past year since Brandon's graduation not only enjoying having school out of the picture but also preparing to do what we know we are called to. He is taking a position as an Associate Pastor in Arizona, and we could not be more excited! It has been pretty incredible to see some really specific prayers answered in the last few weeks, and I think that when we finally get a chance to sit down and breath, we will enjoy seeing how God worked in our lives over this past year.

So I am going to be packing up my sewing room tonight (with the possibility of a few tears!) and will not be doing much in that regard for at least the rest of the month. I will also not be on here much throughout the month, but feel free to check in any time via email! {irenedesign at ymail dot com}

Along with moving a few states south and much closer to most of our family, I will also not be working full time any more! I have loved my job, but I am really excited about this next phase of being able to focus more on my family and really settling into our church and city communities. And true to my over-ambitious mind, I have about 10 different scenarios running through my head of how I can start my own business of some sort at some point.

So here is to a crazy year almost behind us and a year full of who-knows-what ahead!!

Embroidery Hoop Christmas Ornament

2011-11-30T08:01:00.000-05:00

Monday I found out I would be going to a luncheon this coming Sunday that included an ornament exchange. I thought about heading out and buying one, but not being one to let things be simple, I decided to make one. I knew that last night would be my only chance to do so before Sunday.

Last year, Kristie at OCD made some really cool ornaments with fabric and an embroidery hoop, so I took a cue from her and went that route. {I didn't see this until looking for links this morning, but here is a tutorial she wrote!}

Since this was my first, I kept it really simple. I think the background fabric is a Heather Ross scrap, but I could be totally wrong! {I got it in a scrap swap with Sara.} I used double sided fusible interfacing to attach the the flags before doing my "embroidery", but next time I will try a glue stick or my spray basting because it didn't really stick. I hesitate to call this embroidery because I was totally guessing on what to do, but I really like how this came out!

I used a 3" wooden embroidery hoop which is a great size for an ornament. {Anyone know if there is such a thing as a 3.5" hoop? I couldn't find any, but that would truly be the perfect size.}

Since this is the only sewing I'll be doing this week and probably my only blog post {although I do have a finished quilt to show!}, I will be linking up with Amy's Sew & Tell on Friday.

Winner!

2011-11-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

I had Della pull a name for the Scraptastic Giveaway over the weekend, and she picked Bellgirl! I've sent you an email to get your mailing address so I can ship those to you.

Thanks to everyone for entering and sharing your ideas of how to store scraps. It sounds like I am not alone in being only semi organized! I sort my small bits by color in clear plastic bins, and larger pieces and fat quarters go into a clear, plastic "dresser" of sorts.

New Wave Quilt and a clean machine

2011-11-18T08:54:00.001-05:00

{If you're looking for the giveaway, it's over here.}

My mom has been oogling over my quilts all year, and she recently left me a comment wondering when she was going to get one. I actually started her quilt back in June because I didn't know what my sewing life would look like post Baby 2, so it was hard for me to keep it a secret this long! Her birthday was last weekend, and I finally truly finished the quilt with a label, a Priority Mail box, and a birthday card, and now it sits in its true home on her sofa.

Most of the fabrics I used were pieces left from other projects or pieces I bought for projects with my mom in mind that I never actually made! That blue and green are her favorite colors just makes sense given that my mom is someone who really encourages life in its many forms--whether in her own children {now all grown}, the children she teaches, her other family members, her church, or her garden.

From the first time I saw Elizabeth Hartman's New Wave quilt pattern, I knew I wanted to use it, and it seemed perfect for these fabrics. I was right. I love this pattern.

The quilt came dangerously close to not making it to my mom because both my husband and daughter really liked it, but equality won out in the end since we already have three quilts and she had none!

In other news, I cleaned out my sewing machine. When I took off the cover, I gasped. Out loud. It was that bad. See?! Yeah, it has never been like that before. I am was fairly good about cleaning this regularly, but I think I'll blame it on the quilt batting I have been running through my machine lately.

Holy lint balls, Batman!

I am linking up with Amy's Sew and Tell!

WIP Wednesday!

2011-11-16T08:51:00.001-05:00

Progress is slowing down quite a bit around here in terms of actual projects, but I did get my sewing room cleaned and organized enough to have some sweet pieces to add to my giveaway this week.

I also {nearly} completed the quilting on my Small Plates quilt. There are a few areas where the fabric was dragging and I need to go back and pick out the stitches and re-do them. I've been procrastinating on that though {see point one above}.

Beth came over this weekend for a little craft night. I made one earring. That's right. Not one pair. Just one earring. Obviously I'm making great progress! You should see what Beth is doing. She is pretty classy.

Oh, and of course I did manage to make a mini quilt for Amy's Mini Quilt Challenge and it is now hanging up in my kitchen! I have to admit I smile every time I go by it. I love the colors and am really happy with how it turned out {even though it is completely different from the original plan I had drafted on graph paper.} Next time I'll be referring to Kate's new tutorial for her Garden Windows blocks before moving on the the rest of my design!

Issue 7 of Fat Quarterly is waiting for me to finish reading. It's all about color, and so far what I have read and seen in there is so good.

Coming up this week:
Finish the Small Plates quilt. This one is not optional.
Finish the Violet Top. {What's that? You don't know about this one? Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting to take photos to include here!}
That's it. No, really. I doubt there will be time for anything else, but if there is, I have an Amy Butler Birdie Sling I would love to make, some fabrics I pulled last night after reading Issue 7 that would make a great mini quilt or pillow, or 2 large quilts that are ready to be started, so I am not lacking in the ideas department as usual!

I'm linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

Scraptastic Giveaway

2011-11-13T22:19:00.001-05:00

This giveaway is now closed.

My sewing room is not seen by anyone other than me and a few friends who are brave enough to venture up there. I love having my own space, but the down side is it gets messy pretty easily. I would so much rather sew than clean, but sometimes I need to just quit whining and do it. Tonight I did just that. I sorted through my scrap boxes, refolded my bigger pieces, and squeezed my yardage into one box. I've got a nice little pile of fabric I know I need to let go of, and I even came across some really fabulous scraps that I thought some of you might like.

{This little pile includes fabrics from Heather Ross, Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler, Lizzy House, and Heather Bailey...just a few of my personal favorites!}

After seeing all of the gorgeous mini quilt's over at Amy's Mini Quilt Sew & Tell this weekend, I knew that these could find a good home fairly easily. Not everyone is into scraps, and I totally get that, but if you want them, they could be yours!

Here is all the not-so-fine print:

I will leave the giveaway open through Friday, November 18 {in other words, the comments close when I get around to closing them some time Saturday morning}. I will choose a random winner via some random method most likely involving my two year old.

Only one comment per person {no hoops to jump through this time}. Please tell me how you sort/organize/store your scrap fabrics or what your would do with these if you win.

If you are a no-reply blogger, you must leave your email address in the comments so I can contact you! {On that note, changing from a no-reply status is much better because then your email is only visible to the blog author where you leave your comment. See here for more info.} I will email the winner, and if I have not heard back from you by Tuesday night {Nov. 22}, I will pick a new winner on Wedenesday. {That's fair, right?}

Because this is self-sponsored, the scrap pack is only open to U.S. residents, but if you're an international reader, you can still enter and I will send you a surprise fat quarter :)

A {Mini} Quilt Image of My Life

2011-11-12T08:17:00.000-05:00

When I went up to my sewing room last night, I did not set out to sew up a perfect representation of my life, but that is what I ended up with.

This {mini} quilt is flawed, not at all what I had in mind, heavily improvised, still needing to be cleaned up, late, and yet it is also perfectly beautiful, and I am really proud of it. I was challenged as I made this and reminded of certain weaknesses {like the inability to do basic geometry thanks to my High School self who thought my math teachers were full of hot air when they said I would actually find ways to use their knowledge beyond the classroom...}, but the outcome is so much better than what I had anticipated and I wouldn't have it any other way. {OK, except I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of the pencil marks and already have a water soluble pen on my shopping list.}

The quilting really makes me happy. The great thing about a {mini} quilt is that it's really easy to wiggle around in the sewing machine, so there are lots of options for quilting.

Ha! Did you notice the hanging tabs on the bottom?

I plan to hang this in my kitchen or sewing room, so I just went with a really simple back.

I really loved making a {mini} quilt and can see myself getting easily distracted from all the other projects I have in mind to do over the coming months by a series of minis just waiting to be made.

If you want to see more beautiful minis, head on over to Amy's blog to see other entries in her Sew & Tell Mini Quilt Challenge.

Edited to add fabrics:
Center diamond/squares are Michael Miller Belle Rose Pink, the linen-looking fabric is Adornit Pink Dazzeled Subtle Tan {this fabric is amazing. I just bought 3 yards to keep for other projects in lieu of solids}, and the pink trim is Melissa Averinos Dazzle Basketweave in Pink. On the back I used a print from Jessica Gonacha Swift's Giselle collection from Red Rooster fabrics.

On Quilts Large and Small

2011-11-10T08:49:00.001-05:00

Remember last week when I told you about my really ambitious plan to finish up THREE quilts by the end of the year {two of which were still in the form of fat quarter stacks}? Well, this is a great example of why I hold my plans in open hands. I will be able to finish up the Small Plates quilt--most likely this weekend--but as much as I want to give those final two as Christmas gifts, it just isn't going to happen. We are about to hit some major turbulence of a good sort as a family, and I am going to have to use my free time for things other than sewing. I still have plans for a few smaller items, but nothing quite like finishing three quilts before Christmas.

So what are some of those other plans? I can't really divulge a whole lot right now, but I can still give you my sewing plans ;) I still have my Violet Top hanging in the closet with no hems and no buttons. It doesn't do me much good like that. I also just might join in on Amy's Mini Quilt Challenge...tomorrow! One of the great things about minis is they give the option of trying new blocks or practicing quilting techniques without a large degree of commitment.

Here is some mini eye candy for you on this fine Thursday.

It is not too late to join Amy's Mini Quilt Challenge! It will be open tomorrow, but since these quilts are mini, you {and I} can make one tonight!

WIP Wednesday: Small Plates Quilt Top, etc.

2011-11-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

I love when I'm able to get some big "finishes" under my belt. After spending quite a bit of time second guessing my fabric choices, I finally finished up Diane's quilt top. That cream fabric with the brown dots is still look a little questionable in the photo, but when it isn't the center of attention, it behaves quite nicely with the others. I'm using the Small Plates pattern from the Practical Guide to Patchwork for this one.

This one is really just a teaser. I finally bound the New Wave quilt top after letting it sit in my sewing room since I used the Long Arm machine back in July! I'll show more of this soon, I promise!

And for those two quilts I planned...The first is going to be yet another design from the Practical Guide to Patchwork {I seriously LOVE that book. Did you see Elizabeth's news yet?!}. I am waiting on a few more gray fabrics to arrive, but I will start cutting this weekend.

And this one is either going to be a Drunkard's Path or Half Square Triangle quilt. I just can't decide if I really want to do all the cutting for the Drunkard's Path or not. I love that design, but now that everyone has those fancy GO! Baby cutters, I feel like I live in the dark ages with my rotary cutter and mat ;) I may just need to suck it up and go for it... {Can I get away with not cutting the notches in the center? That is the part that really bugs me.}

My goal is to finish all three quilts by the end of the year. Am I insane? {yes. I'll answer that for you.} Can I do it? {Let's hope so!!}

Of course, I am linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday. For some reason my button isn't working though.

My fabric stacks--and my to-do list--keep growing

2011-10-28T15:30:00.000-04:00

I spent a bit of time playing with my fabrics recently and I ended up with quite a few fabric stacks that I think would each make an amazing quilt. The top left is actually two stacks, so represented here are 7 quilts! I have designs laid out for a few and am still contemplating the others. The problem is, the design light bulb usually comes on sometime well after midnight when I am dead asleep.

The blue strips on the bottom are binding for one that is all but finished, and the red/blue/tan strips are backing pieces for the quilt I gave you a little peak at earlier this week. The big pile on the bottom is the same as the second photo. It's a "secret quilt," so you won't hear or see much more about that for several months. {sorry!} The others are just ideas at this point.

And, as if I needed my To Do list to grow, I'm also trying to come up with ideas for a quilt for my younger sister who is going to be graduating in December! She said she likes either the 1920s and 1930s reproductions or Gray/Yellow combinations. This is the first audition for a set of Gray/Yellow fabrics but I'm not 100% convinced yet {the yellow circles and aqua dots are already feeling a bit too loud}. I do like this combo, but it really needs to be perfect for her!

{These are not exact, but I did my best to list all of the fabrics below in case you are interested. All were found in various Etsy shops.

Top Row: Amy Butler Midwest Modern Floating Buds in Gray; Heather Ross Far Far Away II Rose Garden Gray; Robert Kaufman Metro Ring Dots Marigold
Second Row: Alexander Henry Boule in Gray; Erin McMorris Weekends Go By Bike Gray; Random Home Decor Chevron Print
Third Row: Art Gallery Fabric Modern Affair Dim Fusion Yellow Leaf on Gray; Monoluna Beach Mod Medium Dot in Mineral; Joel Dewberry Heirloom Marbled Stripe
Fourth Row: Bonnie and Camille Ruby Dainty in Gray; Unknown Decorative Diamonds Fabric; Amy Butler Midwest Modern Optic Blossom in Linen

Freshcut Pillow Case

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago Della informed me that she needed a "pah" before she could take a nap. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the heck a "pah" is, but I found out it's 2-year-old-speak for pillow. The girl wanted a pillow in her crib. Mommy and Daddy have pillows, so she wants one!

I made some pillow covers for her room last year, so I took one of the pillows and made a new cover that didn't have pom poms on it. {I have to admit that I'm a little scared she would try swallowing one of those!}

I had some fabric left over from making her quilt, so I put it to good use and made her a pillow case. I have to admit that I love it when she gets in bed at night snuggles up with her pretty pah.

A little peekaroo at the good blocks

2011-10-21T22:27:00.002-04:00

OK, I showed you the messed up block, but I didn't get to show you my favorites, yet.

I would love to finish the entire quilt top this weekend, but more realistically I will be happy to finish the blocks and just start sewing the top together!

Happy FRIDAY and enjoy the weekend friends!

Observing my own curfew wouldn't be such a bad idea

2011-10-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

Last night I was working on some blocks and had decided that after one hour I needed to be finished. I knew I was already exhausted, and getting to bed early would be a good thing. Of course 9PM came and went unnoticed and around 9:45 I was ironing my blocks when I noticed this one.

It is not supposed to look like that! So tonight I'll be doing a little stitch ripping along with sewing more blocks. I'll also keep this picture as a reminder of why I should listen to myself when I say I need to go to bed early!

Also, I called my mom at 10PM asking her if the (cooked) chicken I had left out over the last two hours was still good. Final decision was actually NO so tonight we are having a vegetarian dinner. No one needs to know about that, though, OK?

Pattern review: Kitchen windows quilt

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Kitchen Windows Quilt Pattern from The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman

Cutting: I spent a good SIX HOURS cutting the fabrics for the quilt top. This is mainly because I was fussy cutting quite a few of them. It was worth it.

Piecing: I don't remember how long the actual piecing took, but I think I finished the top over the course of 3 weekends. The piecing was really easy, and the instructions in the book make this possible for just about anyone.

Quilting: I used a long arm machine to quilt this one and just went with free motion quilting all over.

Binding: I used this machine binding tutorial combined with the instructions in the book for attaching the binding in less than a year!

Overall thoughts: I loved making this quilt! Although it took me a long time to cut the fabrics, the instructions were impeccable and easy to follow. The final outcome is obviously worth all the effort, and even my husband loves the quilt {he is my toughest critic, but it's all in love}!

I give Elizabeth Hartman a lot of credit. She has made quilting both appealing and accessible to a large audience. I am already working on another pattern from this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good resource for quilting.

100 Quilts for Kids Reader's Choice

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

Remember the Wonky Stars Quilt I made for 100 Quilts for Kids? Well, Kate posted her Top 10 and mine is included in that list! It's really weird to see my quilt up there, but I'm definitely thrilled.

Also, she's holding a vote for the Reader's Choice. If you can take just a minute, go see all of the quilts she posted and vote for your favorite {even if it is not mine}!

Making earrings

2011-10-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

{{{For some reason I sang the title of this post to the tune of "Choppin Broccoli"

...

Thank you, SNL, for that classic.}}}

So last week I decided I needed some new earrings. Because I have a total of two pairs--one set of pearl studs and one set of turquoise dangles Brandon's Granny gave me. I like them both, but I would be OK with some variety in this area.

Not being one to just go the simple route and purchase a pair or two, I used that money to buy myself a jewelry making starter kit. I got three pairs of pliers, lots of silver findings, and some beads, all for the price of the two pairs of earrings I was looking at on Heartsy. Go me! {I will just pretend like the messy house is not a result of my insatiable need to be doing something a bit more creative.}

Oh and did I mention that there are loads of birthdays coming up in the next few months? And Christmas? So really, this gives me another option for gifts. Right?

Anyways, here is my favorite set. Well, one of them with my eyeball.

Here's a close up.

I really enjoy making earrings but need a little help! If any of you have any good websites to buy supplies, get ideas, or can recommend a good book or other resources, I would totally appreciate it! I totally know my around around the fabric la-la-land on the interwebs, but not jewelry!

WIP Wednesday New Fabric and Placemats

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

No, I did not go to the Sewing Summit, but I was Among Friends. Sort of . One of the local quilt shops has a Fat Quarter sale every year. Last year I found out just a few days after the sale. This year, I was there! I gave myself a budget of $30 "fun money" for whatever I wanted {see the first photo}, plus I was looking for fabrics for "Diane's Quilt" {see picture and explanation below}. If you're curious, I stuck under my budget, although there are a few fabrics not pictured.

I met my friend Diane at work shortly after moving here five years ago. Even after leaving that company, we remained friends, and she has invited my family over for dinner just for fun as well as when she feels sorry for us living so far from family like at Thanksgiving {she's Italian, and she cooks like she's Italian}! When I was making plans for what to do with Della in case Chloe was born before my mom got here, Diane was the first person I thought of. Sure enough, I had to call her at 1:30 one morning to have her take Della so we could head to the hospital and have a baby--nearly three weeks early! I have tried thinking of suitable ways to thank her, but unfortunately I am not rich! Then I though of a quilt. {duh.} So, I'm making yet another Elizabeth Hartman quilt from The Practical Guide to Patchwork. I've already started cutting the fabric.

I also had a big finish. Well, sort of. Only big because I finally mailed it off...two weeks later.
My sister asked me to make some place mats for her new table, and I was happy to oblige. You get to see one set now and the other later when I finish a tutorial ;)

So my stats:
Finishes since last post:
Three! {place mats, Wonky Stars baby quilt, Colette Ginger Skirt}

Works in Progress:
New Wave Quilt {needs to be bound}
Violet Top {needs to be hemmed}
Diane's Quilt {lots left}

I also have several others I want to work on, but realistically I need to wrap up my WIPs before I start anything else!

I am linking up with Lee...

1 Quilt for 1 Boy

2011-10-09T21:00:00.002-04:00

I drove past St. Joe’s several times a week for at least two years before I realized that just a few hundred yards from the road lay a row of brick homes, each full of young boys who for various reasons lived there as orphans. The reality that there are that many orphans in this little city—and those are just the boys—kind of stunned me at first. Actually it still does. Part of me wants to hide from the reality; maybe if I cover my eyes it will just go away. The other part wants to take as many of those boys into my home as I can.

Right now I can do neither. But I can offer an incredibly small token of love to just one of those little ones, all the while sending prayers to the Father for each to be wrapped in love very soon.

When I started this quilt, it was simply about playing with some of my fabric. Then I saw the 100 Quilts for Kids and I knew this needed to be for a baby boy. My church started a month-long Orphan Care push, and I quickly remembered the row of homes, in which a baby boy needs this blanket and some love.

My heart breaks with that reality but I rejoice in being able to use some of my passion for loving another--even if for just a few hours.

Freshcut by Heather Bailey is coming again!

2011-10-06T23:03:00.001-04:00

I may be way behind the times on this, but I was browsing Hawthorne Threads and noticed "Freshcut by Heather Bailey" listed in the Coming Soon Section--right below Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line. WHAT?! In case you did not know, Freshcut is easily my all-time favorite line of fabric.

Oh, and it gets better. There is going to be flannel.

I used what I could find of Freshcut to make Della's quilt last year and have been holding onto what is left, too afraid I'll want to use it for something else to cut into much more of it {except a pillow case for her bed I'll show you soon}. Now I can use it all up knowing that in February there will be more!

And for those wondering what the heck I have been doing the last few weeks {you know besides working, trying to take care of my house and my hubby, and keeping up with two sweet girls...} my weekend To-Do list is topped by "Take Pictures of Finished Projects". Because I actually do have finishes to show you!

WIP: Wonky Stars Quilt Top

2011-09-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

Though it's been quiet on the blog, it has not been so with my life! In fact, I would describe it as being chaotic more than anything right now {and I'm learning to accept that while still trying to bring some sort of order about}! Maybe I could psycho-analyze myself and say that's why I've been more drawn to quilting more than ever the last few weeks: It allows me to create order even if nothing else does.

I whipped up this little mini quilt top--measuring about 24x24 inches--last week and am still deciding how to back it {OK, and also still trying to find time to get back up to my sewing room}. I used the Wonky Star Tutorial from the Silly BooDilly for the blocks. When I put them together, the middle was looking pretty boring, so I added a wonky diamond to it. This block is an easy one to make, but I enjoyed it so much the first time I made it, I knew it would be perfect for these fabric pieces as well!

My list of unfinished projects is growing, so this weekend I plan to knock out at least one {I'm trying to keep it real here!:
Custom order of place mats
Colette Violet Top {just needs to be hemmed and have buttons sewn on}
Bind the New Wave Quilt
Sew a back for the Wonky Stars mini quilt
Get pictures of my latest finish--the Kitchen Windows Quilt!

Chloe's Quilt

2011-08-26T13:41:00.000-04:00

Sewing time has been very limited these days, but I did manage to finish Chloe's quilt last week. I still think it is a bit big and would omit two rows and two columns if making this again as a baby quilt, but I am really happy with it over all.

Thanks for your suggestions about the backing and binding last time I blogged about this! I used a binding with teal in it to bring in a bit of a cool color to an otherwise warm quilt, and I ended ordering some extra fabric for the back since Fresh Squeezed Fabrics had it on super sale last month. This way I was able to stick with my original idea of just using one solid piece for the back.

Before making this quilt, I did not think I would ever design my own quilt or do any form of hand quilting. I did both with this one! I used a variegated DMC Pearl 8 thread (one spool was enough for the whole quilt; I ordered 4!), and I found all kinds of really helpful information for the entire process from the Quilting 101 class on Chasing Cottons.

Mod Sampler Quilt, Parisville Edition

2011-08-09T10:52:00.000-04:00

My sister's quilt is finally finished! She received it yesterday after my mom flew home from two weeks of taking care of us. My mom actually helped with stitching the binding on the back; if she had not done that, I would still have the quilt in my possession.

When I took pictures, I did not know that my lens had fogged up from the humidity! Hence the foggy-lens look.

I used the Mod Sampler quilt pattern from Oh, Fransson!. If you're looking for a fairly easy lap-sized quilt, this is a good one to use. The directions are very straight-forward, and it's nice to have six different styles of blocks to work with. I felt like that provided enough repetition to find efficient ways to make the block sets, but there was also enough variety that making the blocks didn't get boring.

The fabrics are from Tula Pink's Parisville collection mixed with Kona solids.

I quilted this on the long arm machine with lots of loopdy-loos. My favorite part was writing my sister's name in the sashing.

I'm so glad that this is now out of my hands and in my sister's. I made this as a graduation gift for her. She just finished her B.A.--going to school full time and working full time. If that isn't impressive, I don't know what is. I'm super proud of her and am so glad I was able to give a gift like this.

New Fat Quarters

2011-08-03T11:31:00.002-04:00

Look what arrived via Fed Ex just a few minutes ago!

It's a Fat Quarter bundle of Josephine Kimberling's Just Dandy fabrics from Robert Kaufman!

I won this dandy little bundle a few weeks ago from Fat Quarterly (with special thanks to Robert Kaufman for sponsoring). I haven't made up my mind what to do with it beyond just admiring the pretties, but I'm sure I'll find plenty of uses!

We are still enjoying lots of down time with the babies. My mom is here for a few more days so we may try to tackle the Violet top while I have her expertise to guide me. Every article of adult clothing I have tried in the last few years has been a fail or very close to it (and I don't think I'm exaggerating) so I'm looking forward to using a Colette pattern and having my mom to help. Wish us luck!

{If you haven't had a chance to yet, see what Sara is doing with Colette's Ginger Skirt Pattern. It's going to be a stunner when she's finished!}

An introduction I've been eager to make

2011-07-30T18:44:00.001-04:00

Apparently in my case, the last-minute nesting instinct comes in the form of sewing rather than cleaning. Saturday night I felt like I needed to get the binding sewn to the front of my sister's quilt {I had been putting it off in case this heat ever let up, but since that wasn't going to happen, I just did it}. Not more than an hour after putting my machine away and folding the partially-bound quilt {I did get it sewn all around on top}, the contractions started. I told my hubby I didn't think this was "it" though.

Well, I was wrong because just a few hours later {OK more like 12}, my beautiful Chloe was born! She was almost three weeks early but is totally healthy and was just ready to meet us!

We are all home, resting, adjusting, redefining what our normal is, and generally enjoying being a family of four {plus my most wonderful Mom who is here for two weeks helping with the whole adjustment process}!

I won't be doing my sewing, but I'm still here and still working on the painfully-slow process of finishing my quilts!

WIP Wednesday

2011-07-20T06:00:00.004-04:00

Besides finishing the quilting on Kitchen Windows, I also managed to go from this

to this over the last week.

After sewing the last row on last night, I kindly asked my hubby to spend "no less than 30 seconds admiring my first ever self-designed quilt!" He was very kind and spent at least 31 seconds admiring it before moving back to his own work.

Here's the entire quilt top.

I still need a little help with the whole math thing; the top is bigger than I wanted it to be, so the piece of fabric I have for the back isn't going to be big enough. I could cut off one row on the left side and one on the top and it would all fit, or I could go with Plan B and piece some extra for the back. I'm considering both: adding a little piecing to the back but still taking off those two rows to make it closer to the crib size (it's currently 44"x48" and I wanted it to be more like 36-40" x 40-44").

I have some really nice variagated orange & pink DMC Perle 8 thread that I will be using to hand quilt over the coming weeks, so don't expect to see this as a real finish any time soon.

In other WIP news, I'm still waiting on my pattern to start the Colette top, but I'll probably be putting this one off for a little while either way. I have three quilts that need to be bound, and at least two take priority over the top.

I've kept up a pretty strong pace with the sewing recently, but I'm finally stopping (the frantic part, not the sewing!). This baby is coming soon, and my body is ready to rest and enjoy the quieter aspects of binding and hand quilting that await!

Once again, I'm linking up with Lee and the other fabulous artists showing off their goods at WIP Wednesday!

Long Arm Love

2011-07-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

{I'm sparing you the two sappy paragraphs I just wrote about how much I love quilting and how my machine won't do more than the actual piecing and blah blah blah ... on to the good stuff!}

I finished the quilting on our Kitchen Windows quilt! This was my last one in a stack of three that I wanted to finish pre-baby. Here she is on the Long Arm!

I used a free motion stitch for all three quilts. For me this was so much easier than trying to use a template on the machine. Plus I really like the freedom of being able to make cute designs

like hearts

and flowers

and even my name

I know when I wash this one the designs won't look quite the same, but I'm hopeful they'll still be intelligible!

I now have a stack of three quilts waiting to be bound. I really wanted to get to this point so I could just enjoy the restful part of hand binding the quilts. I like the idea of trying machine binding, but given my machine's recent history, I'll pass!

Work in Progress Wednesday

2011-07-13T08:01:00.000-04:00

What a week! I've got several major steps finished and am looking forward to some true finishes over the next few weeks. I would really love to have all my quilts completely finished (bound) before the baby comes, but we'll see if that happens or not!

Other than using the long arm machine {read more here} for the first time this weekend, I also got going on the baby's quilt that seemed to come out of no where at 5 am Friday morning {read about that bit here!}. When I did the design, I forgot to add the seam allowance so instead of 99 Half Square Triangles (HSTs), I actually needed 120. Thankfully, it wasn't a big deal to cut and sew a few more squares.

It was really fun to go from large stacks of squares

To a whole buncha Half Square Triangles

Although I've used these in a quilt block, I've never made a significant number before. I am glad this is just a baby sized quilt!

This is also my first time designing my own quilt {hence forgetting the seam allowance when determining the size of my HSTs}. Bec over at Chasing Cottons is wrapping up a really helpful Quilting 101 on her blog {it should really be 101 + 102 + .... it's super in depth}. One of the posts discussed designing the actual quilt, and that helped me quite a bit. I also used Rachel's tutorial for the HSTs.

I am planning to hand quilt this one, which is something totally new to me, so if you have any suggestions on techniques, threads, thimbles, needles, or how to make a chocolate cake, I'll be happy to hear from you :)

OK, so my Works in Progress...
Bind my sister's Parisville Quilt
Bind the New Wave Quilt
Sew the Kitchen Windows quilt back
Quilt Kitchen Windows
Bind Kitchen Windows
{do you see a theme yet?}
Sew together the HSTs to make the baby quilt top
{you get the idea...}

On hold
Finishing Della's "first" quilt {My sewing budget is way over this month thanks to renting the Long Arm, so I'm going to hold off on this one!}
Violet Top {I'm waiting on the pattern plus I want to make it when my mom is here and can help me!}

Learning to use the Long Arm Machine

2011-07-12T08:00:00.008-04:00

This weekend I finally got to take the long arm machine quilting class I signed up for last month! It was a lot of information crammed into a short amount of time, but it was really fun to see how the machine works and to play around with a few of the techniques like free motion quilting and using template designs. The best part was that taking the class made me eligible to actually use the machine on my own quilts!

My sister's Modern Sampler quilt was of course the one that got this whole thing started, so that was the first one I did. I'm going to be a total tease today though and say, "Sorry, no pictures of that one just yet." Since it's a gift, I want her to see it before I show it off. It took me about three hours to load the machine and do the quilting, but part of the problem was that I picked a faulty spool of thread that kept breaking and added a good 45 minutes to my quilting time. It was pretty frustrating, but I became really familiar with the machine thanks to that!

The second quilt I did was the New Wave Quilt. This is a little less of a teaser, but it's also the last you'll see of the quilt until the end of the year. It's going to be a gift too! This one was much quicker. It's about the same size but only took an hour and fifteen minutes to load and quilt. That's partly because I knew what I was doing with the loading and partly because my thread only broke once.

{Oh and just to brag on my hubby for a minute...I told him I would only be gone three hours when I left. I called him three hours later to say I was "nearly" finished with the first quilt and asked if he would watch Della so I could go ahead and do the second. Of course he said Yes and ended up letting me have a whopping 6 hours of alone time...something which is nearly unheard of (not because our hubby's aren't capable or willing to watch the kids; it's just not easy to get that much time worked out at once!) It.was.amazing.}

I went in with really specific ideas of how I wanted to quilt each of these and came out with something completely different for each one! The machine has a way of affecting you in a mind-controlling sort of way! I think part of that is it's just so totally different than quilting on a sewing machine. On the sewing machine you're so confined with the space that it's hard to get really fluid motions. Straight lines, squares, grids, etc. make a lot of sense. With the long arm you almost need to be using fluid motions so it's really ideal for free motion quilting.

I am going back next weekend to quilt our Kitchen Windows quilt, and once I get that all finished and bound, I'll give you some full shots instead of all these teasers.

When inspiration hits, you have to run with it

2011-07-08T19:54:00.001-04:00

What started off last night as a pile of fabrics to "eventually" or "possibly" use in the new baby's quilt

Had me lying awake at five this morning begging to be brought out into something like this

Then a sale at the local quilt shop added these beauties

And now tonight I will be busy cutting lots of squares to make 99 Half Square Triangles.
I will let you know how it all goes.

Oh and tomorrow is the big day when I get to learn how to use a long arm quilting machine! Happy Weekend, friends!

I'm on Craft Gossip!

2011-07-07T17:00:00.003-04:00

I cannot tell you how many times I have been to Craft Gossip over the last few years of sewing to try to figure out how to sew a zipper pouch, or make a stuffed panda bear {ok, not really}, but that website is full of links to tutorials on how to make just about everything. When I posted my Make-up Brush Roll Tutorial, Sara suggested I submit it to Craft Gossip, and I'll admit the thought had not even crossed my mind. But I did, and I got a super fast reply that my tutorial was officially on their site! {cue the confetti!} So, thanks Sara for the suggestion!

If you missed the tutorial, you can find it here:

Work in Progress Wednesday: Baby Snuggler and Potholders

2011-07-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

I have officially made something for the baby! I wouldn't say I was feeling guilty about this, but I definitely wanted her to have something specifically for her from me when she is born. I made quite a few burp cloths and a diaper bag for Della when she was born, and I didn't want this baby to have nothing of "her own" {as if she would really care!} I made a Snuggler from Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing for Baby.

This really was a simple project in most ways, and I made very few changes to it. I used a lightweight quilting cotton and flannel from Joann's fabric for this project. I didn't want it to scream "nursery decor", and I'm pretty happy with the light lavender palette of this cozy blanket. Now I just need to wait {approximately} five more weeks to have a sweet baby to wrap up inside!

I actually had quite a bit of sewing time this weekend, so here goes:
Finishes
New Wave Quilt Top You can't see this one yet, but let me just say, it.is.gorgeous.
Make-up Brush Roll I actually made two because the first wasn't really good enough to give as a gift to my friend. The best part was making a tutorial the second time around so that others can make one! I think this is my first tutorial, and I do not think it will be my last ;)

Project for the Baby I already told you about the snuggle blanket.
Modern Stash Quilting Bee Block I fiinished my last block and wrote about the overall experience of being in a bee with a look back at all the blocks I made over the 6 months.

Next Up
Learning to Use a Long Arm Machine! I am counting down the days to Saturday when I take a class to learn how to use a long arm for finishing my quilts! A year ago I never thought I would be so fanatic about quilting, let alone learning to use a long arm. So.Excited.
Quilt Backs I need to make the backs for my Kitchen Windows and New Wave Quilts so that when I go in the weekend after this to use the long arm I have something to quilt!
Colette Sewing: Violet Top It is going to be nice to re-expand my wardrobe after the baby comes, and my first piece will be the Violet Top from Colette Patterns. I'm joining Sara in her sewing endeavors {though I'm not quite as ambitious}!
Kitchen Accessories I made one more potholder in this really long-and-drawn-out process of spicing up my own kitchen. It's good to have little projects like this on the days I need a break from some of the bigger ones. Next up I will be covering some canvases in fabric to adorn the walls and maybe a new hand towel or two.

As usual, I'm linking up with Lee...

Modern Stash Quilting Bee: A Wrap Up

2011-07-05T12:00:00.001-04:00

When I started the Modern Stash Quilting Bee, I had several personal objectives in mind: learn new quilting techniques, make several quilt blocks without having to repeat the same block over and over again, use up the fabrics I had on hand, and of course be a part of a small "community" of sorts of other quilters. I can say I was not disappointed in the objectives and outcomes. I feel like the common words "fun" and "challenging" really are great ways to describe this experience although it was far from common.

One thing I loved is that each person picked something totally unique to them. Whether it was the color combination, block design, or general desire to have bee members interpret a theme, each block was in its own way a small project that required a good amount of attention and forethought.

Now that the bee is over, it's fun to look back at the blocks I made and re-read my experiences making them.

1. Bento Box Block for me
2. Window Frame Block for Mer
3. Pinwheel Sampler for Theresa
4. Liberated Church Dash Block for Toni
5. Patchwork Square in Square for Casey
6. Mod Mosaic Block for Pam
7. Wonky Star Block for Lindsey
8. Improv Flowers Block for Hil
9. Improv Pink and Orange Block for Johanna
10. Cathedral Windows Block for Sara
11. Hexagon Block for Sandi
12. Prairie Inspired Block for Sharon

Do you see now why I loved this bee so much? I wish I could sign on for Round Two this month, but that is going to have to wait until things calm down--who knows when that will be considering it isn't even "crazy" yet!

Several members have posted pictures of all of their blocks together. I love this part when you get to see your little project as part of something much bigger than just you. You can see some of these photos as well as the blocks other members have made on the group's Flickr page.

Make-up Brush Roll Sewing Tutorial

2011-07-03T12:54:00.001-04:00

This simple sewing tutorial is a great way to use up some of your bigger fabric scraps and have a place to house your fancy make-up brushes when you are traveling. I tried to be pretty detailed so that a beginner can use this tutorial without too much guesswork!

All seams are 1/2" unless otherwise noted
Measurements are given as height x width

Start by gathering your materials. You will need:

Outer Pannel 8.5" x 13"
Inside lining 11" x 13"
Upper Flap 3.5" x 13"
Pocket Piece 10" x 13"
2 pieces of ribbon, 12" long
1 lightweight iron-on interfacing 7.5" x 12" {for outer pannel}
1 lightweight iron-on interfacing 10" x 12" {for inside lining}
Ruler
Scissors/Rotary Cutter
Turning tool (chopstick)
Pencil

After you have cut your fabrics to size, adhere the interfacing to the back sides of your outer panel and inside lining pieces according the the manufacturer's directions. The interfacing should be centered so that it doesn't go to any of the edges of your fabric. This will help keep some of the bulk out of the seams.

While your iron is still hot, fold the pocket piece in half, with the wrong sides together, so that it measures 5" x 13". Iron to set the crease. Set the pocket and inner lining pieces aside for now.

Place your outer panel piece right side up, and lay the upper flap piece on top of it so the right sides are together. The pieces should line up across the top. Pin in place and sew along the top (the 13" side), backstitching at the beginning and end.

Press this seam open and iron the right side as well just to get out any wrinkles.

Now you are going to stitch a line along the very top of the flap as close to the seam as you can get without actually being in the seam. This will help create a clean crease when we finish the flap at the very end.

Take your two pieces of ribbon and stitch them onto the printed side of your outer panel about 3" down from the seam between the panel and the flap. The ribbons should be on your right side as shown in the picture. Do not backstitch; this is basically just basting them in place. The seam allowance here is less than 1/4".

Now lay your inside lining piece flat and lay the pocket piece over it. The bottom raw edge of the pocket should line up with the bottom of the inside lining so the fold of the pocket is on top. Get your ruler and mark a line that is 3" from the left side of the pocket. Each of the following measurements work from the last line your drew: 2" (so now 5" from the left side...), 1.5", 1.5", 1", 1". You can customize this however you want, but I found this gives enough variety to fit several different sized brushes. At this point I place several pins around the edges just to be sure everything stays in place while I'm sewing the pocket lines.

Sew along each of your pocket lines, being sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of each. At the top of the pocket, I backstitch 5-6 stitches just to be sure the brushes don't wind up pulling out my stitching.

I also stitch about a 1/4" seam along the two raw sides of the pocket piece so I know it won't move while I'm sewing everything together.

Now lay out your outer panel piece with the right side up and arrange the ribbon so it won't get in the way while you sew it all together {The flap should lay flat at the top at this point}.

Lay the inner lining/pocket piece right side down on top of the outer pannel. The pocket should be on the bottom so things aren't upside-down when you're all done! Pin around the edges to keep everything in place as you sew.

I use special pins to mark where I am going to start and stop sewing. You'll need to leave a 3" opening when you sew so that you can turn the whole thing right side out. Just be sure the opening is not where the pocket is; that will make closing it a bit more difficult. The top would also be a suitable place for this opening. Sew all the way around the edges of your roll, with the exception of your 3" opening. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.

Clip your corners to take off some excess fabric but be sure you don't clip your stitches! {I've made that mistake several times.}

Now start to gently pull the roll out through the opening so that it is right side out. It will get wrinkled during this process, but that's OK! Use your chopstick or other turning tool to push out the corners and seams all the way around the roll.

At this point, I make sure my steam is turned about high on my iron, and I iron the entire roll flat. I set my seams so that everything will line up the way I want it to when I topstitch all of it. Double check that you didn't bunch up your fabric in the opening so when you sew it closed, you won't have any weird gaps.

Beginning at the opening you used for turning the roll, topstitch all the way around the roll with a 1/8" seam. You're almost finished!

With the steam still set on the iron, iron your flap piece towards the inside of the roll. The line you stitched on it at the beginning should help it roll over evenly so that your seam between the flap and outer panel lays centered at the top.

Now fill your roll with your make-up brushes and enjoy!!

If you make one of these, I would love to see it. Feel free to post a link to your picture or blog post in the comments. Also if you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments and I'll answer there as well as via email.

Happy Sewing!

Sew and Tell Friday: Make-up Brush Roll and Quilt Block

2011-07-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

My iron died on me mid-way through finishing my New Wave quilt top {which is now finished! But you don't get to see it yet...}. Thankfully I was able to get a sparkly new one yesterday, and move on with my ~~life~~ sewing projects.

I made a make-up brush roll for a friend but since I was improving this one, I think I'm going to keep it and make another with a few adjustments {and maybe a tutorial?}. I love the fabrics though, so you get to see my first try even though it isn't top-notch!

I used a cheery print from Robert Kaufman's SEI Dill Blossom line. I love it!

The interior fabric is a Kona gray and the printed one is from a gorgeous and far too unknown line called Giselle by Jessica Swift for Red Rooster Fabric.

I'll spare you some of the details, but basically the big Rik Rak didn't get sewn all the way into the seam on one side because my seam allowance was too small. Also, I think I will re-do the pockets so they are graduated in size rather than random.

Speaking of having to re-do things, I made my last quilt block for the MSQB {booooo} last weekend. I was not entirely happy with it though because the direction of wavy triangles was a bit wonky or not symetrical. See?

color quality a little more bright than real life

I did something that I never do: I took my block apart rather than starting from scratch. Maybe it's the hours I spent ripping stitches from sister's quilt, but I no longer hate my seam ripper. We are nearly BFFs now. Nearly.

The iron died shortly after I finished taking apart the block, so I wasn't actually able to finish it until yesterday {which was still June, so that counts as being on time, right?}, but I'm so much more happy with the final block.

colors are now much more true to real life

Sharon is making a quilt for her hubby {aaaaah, so sweet!}, and his office is "the great outdoors"--he's a rancher--so she wanted earthy tones. I hope my take on earthy isn't too feminine! As for the block design, I got the idea from the Farmers Wife block, particularly this one. I changed it a bit, so it isn't quite so "contrary" {the name of the block is the Contrary Wife}.

I hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend {in the U.S., that is}! I'll be working on that Make-up Brush Roll and a quilt back and then enjoying some party time and fireworks with friends on Monday!

I'm linking up with Amy today at my favorite linky party, Sew & Tell!

Yes, I am taking on another project, and I'm OK with that.

2011-06-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

No WIP Wednesday post for me today. It isn't because I haven't done anything; I have. But I'm just not quite ready to show you :) I do however have a few other things for you.

First of all, there is something more important than the current post that you should be reading. It's truly beautiful. Sarah from Emerging Mummy wrote a post, In which I promise not to call myself fat. I always look forward to Sarah's posts coming through on my reader, and this is one of the best yet. If you are a woman, or if you know a woman, you should read it. {It's not just about perceptions of fat}

NO, really, go read it. Then come back here.

Second, another Sara. I've already told you about her mad quilting skills. She also makes bags and now she's embarking on a journey to make a new wardrobe based on the Colette patterns. Um, I would like an entire wardrobe from those! So I'm {sort of} joining her. I'm starting with the Violet top and Ginger Skirt. And best of all, I get to use the Haven's Edge voile I've had my eye on for some time now for the blouse. It's on sale for $7.50/yard at SewMamaSew right now! {yes, you read that correctly}. They didn't have the violet color {wouldn't that have been perfect?} so I "settled" for the softer pink. Darn. I haven't decided on the skirt fabric yet.

{Image from Colette Patterns}

{Image from SewMamaSew}

I considered using a Westminster Shot Cotton for the skirt, but I've never actually seen/felt the stuff in real life. Have any of you worked with Shot Cottons? Do you think it would be good for a skirt? What is it like compared to some of the typical 100% Cotton quilting fabrics or the Kona Solids? I know it's different, but without actually having felt it, it's hard to know how it is different.

Oh, in case you're wondering, I haven't really lost my mind or this giant belly. I'll be making the blouse {hopefully} before the baby comes because it is meant to have a lose fit, and I'll wait until this fall to make the skirt--when I can actually try it on as I sew! As of tomorrow I have {approximately} six weeks left! Holy Moly!

I'll be back later with a progress update on the projects I actually did work on this last week. {By later I mean a day or two or ...}

Work in Progress Wednesday OR The Weekly Round Up

2011-06-22T06:00:00.006-04:00

It is Wednesday again, and lots of progress has been made this time!

Finishes

I finished undoing all the stitching on my sister's quilt! No really, YAY!
I found out that can do the quilting myself on a long arm machine--Double YAY! There is a sewing center in town that rents a long arm quilter; the only requirement is that you take a class to learn how to use it (darn). So next month I'll be taking the class then getting busy quilting FOUR quilts.
I also finished my Kitchen Windows quilt top. I'm loving it! I still haven't decided how I want to do the back, so that's on the WIP list.
I finally took pictures of my diaper bag and posted the review of the Amy Butler pattern I used to make it.

This coming week I have several WIPs

Make my final MSQB block. I'm pretty settled on this one, but I'm sad because it means the bee is officially over for me when I finish the block.
Make a cosmetic bag or makeup brush roll for a good friend who watches Della for me quite a bit. She often will not let me pay her, so I think I'm totally overdue in making her something.
Work on my New Wave quilt. I have everything cut out and have started sewing the pieces together. I don't anticipate finishing this top until next week with the other two projects taking priority, but I hope to get some work done on it.

Other WIPs

Quilt back for the Kitchen Windows quilt: I need to decide if I want it all to be the same fabric or if I actually want something snazzy on the back. I'm leaning toward the first option.
Quilt back for Della's "first" quilt--AKA the Baby Troll Quilt. This is actually the first quilt top I ever made, but it's been sitting in my studio for a good year now because I was too intimidated to do anything with it. Now that I've done a bit more quilting, have a date with a long arm, and have a big girl to give it to, I think it's time to finish this one ASAP.
Kitchen accessories: I still want to make several more, but these are kind of a "back burner" project.
Baby gear: I haven't made anything for the new baby, but with her due date coming up in 7 weeks (OMG!), I think I need to put this much closer to the top of the list. I just need to decide what to make. I'm thinking a sleep sack would be a fun project to try, but I'm totally open to suggestions (other than a quilt)!

I'm linking up again with Work in Progress Wednesday!

Amy Butler Sweet Harmony Tote: Reveal, Review, Modify

2011-06-21T08:30:00.012-04:00

{The quick version for those who don’t want to read all about it}

Do you all remember last month when I {almost} said I would rather carry my stuff around in a plastic grocery sack than make a new bag from one of Amy Butler’s patterns? Yeah, thankfully I didn’t really say that because I would totally be eating my words right now. I don’t know if I am just such a master at sewing now or what, but this pattern was actually fun to make. Yes, I just said that. I have made several other of her patterns, but they were much earlier in my ohsomature sewing career, and they were so difficult. But the thing is, the finished product was always worth every headache along the way. That’s why I went full steam ahead and made this bag under a tight deadline and with my many picky-me modifications.

{The long version for those who want a step by step replay of making the tote}

So here’s the scoop. I used décor weight fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Tossed Flowers line for the outside and décor weight fabric from Denyse Schmidt’s County Fair line for the piping and lining. The designer décor weight fabrics are really wonderful to work with. The thread count is really high (nothing like the loosey goosey home décor stuff you buy off the bolts at J’s fabrics) and the fabric is definitely thicker than regular quilting weight, but it’s still really easy to work with and my little machine was able to sew through six layers with a size 11 needle. That’s close to miraculous, folks. (I bent something in the machine when trying the quilting on my sister’s quilt so I can’t use a high needle higher right now).

The pattern says the finished tote will be 17.5” across the bottom, 4” deep, and 11” tall. I don’t know about you, but if I’m carrying a big diaper bag, I want it to be big, and 4” isn’t that big. So I added an inch to really make it big. (If I made it again, I would add another inch just for kicks.) This was a little tricky, but once I cut out the pattern pieces, I just sliced all the ones that would be affected in half straight down the middle and then taped them back together with another strip of paper to add an inch to the middle.
So that means I cut the bottom piece, the side pieces and also the handle. Except, with the handle, I tapered it so an inch was added to the center at the bottom where the handle attaches to the back, but I didn’t really widen the top of the handle. I should have taken pictures but didn’t…sorry.

I also wanted to add side pockets on the outside and only have one big pocket on the front, thus omitting the big pocket on the back. I just took my side pattern piece and cut two pocket pieces for each side but didn’t cut them as small. I followed the directions from the front pocket for adding the piping and attaching the side pockets. Easy peasy.

As for fabric placement, I again steered away from the directions and I knew ahead of time which pieces I would cut from which fabric (and marked it on my directions so as not to get confused!) I also “fussy cut” (if that’s possible with such a big piece) that pink piece on the front so that the flowers would look pretty popping out in the background. I didn’t figure this out though until I had already cut the panel once and sewn a cell phone pocket to it, so I had to do that step again.

OK, for the interfacing. I didn’t want a bulky bag in terms of fabric thickness, so I cut the interfacing as I was sewing. Here’s what I ended up with:

Side pockets, Front pocket, and back outside panel: 1 layer each of fusible fleece.
Front outside panel, cell phone pocket, and interior pieces: 1 layer of very thin fusible interfacing (not sure what number)
Interior pockets: 2 layers of same thin fusible interfacing, 1 on each piece of fabric
Bottom panel: 2 layers of Peltex (Pellon?) 70 plus 1 layer of fusible interfacing.

The directions say to trim all interfacing (except that last piece on the bottom panel) ½-3/4 inch around. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! It is a little bit of a pain while you are doing it, but it will make your seams so much nicer and easier to work with. Trust me. DO THIS.

The actual construction of the bag was fairly easy. The directions made sense, including the order of doing things. I made very few modifications here beyond adding my side pockets (and a key fob). One thing I’ve learned to really appreciate from quilting is to keep your iron hot, steamy, and ready for action. Ironing after each step may seem a little tedious, but your final product will look so much nicer if you do!

And the final bag? So worth the 8 hours it took me to make! I spent a lot more time cutting out the pieces and the interfacing than is really required, but that’s because I was being so picky about what I did or did not want interfaced, where I wanted my pattern placement to be, etc. I think this could be a 6 hour project (maybe??) if you followed the directions exactly, but it’s definitely not a super quick one.

As for difficulty, I would say this wouldn’t be bad for someone with intermediate sewing skills. Although it wouldn’t be impossible, I don’t recommend this for a beginner because you really need to have your bearings around all the basics before getting into something more complicated like this. I know others have said it would be great for beginners, but I’m going to disagree here.

OH, and the most important part, Do I like the bag?? Yes!! In fact, I love it! It totally meets my expectations. The size is great for carrying lots of stuff, and with the customizations I made I was able to use this as my sole bag when flying alone with Della from KY to CA for my sister’s graduation! We have also taken it to the zoo, the pool, and given it to the babysitter for the day. I mainly use my purse with my diaper clutch when I'm out for a few errands with Della, but I think when Baby 2 gets here, I will get plenty of use from the bag as I’ll need room to fit stuff for two (and I’m not always a light packer).

I'm linking up today with the other fabulous projects at Fabric Tuesday and the Creative Itch!

On sticking with your instincts

2011-06-17T09:00:00.002-04:00

When I first picked the fabrics for my Kitchen Windows quilt, I was drawn to using a light blue fabric for the sashing. I had planned on purchasing it at a local quilt store, but they didn't actually have any (one of the many LQS conundrums* I have found recently). So I bought another light blue fabric with a darker texture to it. When I got it home, I pretty much hated it. The textured look of the fabric totally threw off the balance of the quilt, and the darker shade was anything but right in this context.

I eventually settled on Kona Solids light blue, but from the moment I paid for it, I felt fairly unsettled about it. I really wanted this to be a soft palette with the pinks and grays and pop of red, and I wasn't sure if the blue would interfere with that. I let the fabric and blocks sit for a couple months while I finished many other projects.

Last week I decided it was time to go for it. I cut all the sashing, but the whole time I still wasn't sure if it would produce a quilt I would be crazy about or one that would make me crazy. Well, last night I all but finished the quilt top, and I.love.it.

I am crazy about this quilt. The blue was so right. Even in this photo, the "big picture" feel is missing but hopefully you can see why I am so glad that I stuck with my instincts on this one. Keep in mind that the binding is a pink/gray combo to tie that palette back in all the way around so as not to allow the blue to overpower everything. I don't know if this follows color rules or not, but in my mind it totally does!

In case you missed it, the Kitchen Windows quilt is one of the many patterns found in Elizabeth Hartman's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork.

*About those conundrums...why would a quilt shop not have a simple light blue fabric or even a charcoal gray or solid black, for crying out loud?? Both of our local shops are totally lacking in the solids department.
And another thing I don't understand...in my quest for an alternative to doing the quilting on my machine (see here or here if you're a new reader), I have found that [our] local quilt shops don't actually have a way for you to make a quilt. They can give you names of people to do the quilting for you with a long arm machine--for which you'll pay with one of your limbs--but forget about having resources to actually enable the quilter to do the quilting.
Sewing machine accessories? Yet another thing missing from the local shops.
Sewing machines? nada.
OK, enough whining. But really, do your local shops have any of these options? Are my expectations way out of line?? Does someone want to start a LQS with me that carries solids and machines and allows quilters to do their own quilting should their machine fail them?

***UPDATED*** OK, so there actually is such a thing as a long arm rental! I finally found a local "sewing center" that rents its long arm machine for a much more affordable price than having someone else do it (and you can still have the satisfaction of making your own quilt). So, I have scheduled a time to take the class to learn to use the machine and I've schedule TWO days of quilting. So now I really do have to finish all three quilts by next month in order to get them all quilted before baby comes. Eep! I am so excited about this! ***consider this quilting drama over for now. I'll spare you for a while.***

I need to get on with my day. Happy Friday!!

The Farmer's Wife Takes the World by Storm

2011-06-16T12:00:00.001-04:00

Three days ago I stumbled upon someone's blog who mentioned the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along; little did I know just what a big deal this is! Based on The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, folks all over the quilting world are trying their hand at traditional quilt block but typically using modern fabric combinations.

Here is a great example of some of the blocks from Lynn at Lilys Quilts

{image source}

What I find most appealing about this quilt is that while the blocks go together, none of the are the same. So each one is its own new little world and new project. Forget the sweatshop of sewing 30 of the same block to make your quilt; you get to enjoy learning a new six inch beauty every step of the way!

So, am I joining? Not yet. I can't. As you saw yesterday, I have some pretty big projects to finish before this baby comes in less than two months. {yikes!} Instead I have joined the Flickr group, added the book to my post-baby wish list (and to-do list), and am enjoying seeing all the blocks others are busy making these days.

Just in case you wanted to see a few more...

{image source}

Are you doing this quilt along? I want to see your blocks if you are!

Work in Progress Wednesday: Stitch Ripping and a Quilt Top in progress

2011-06-15T08:30:00.018-04:00

My last post was also a W.I.P. Wed. post. What's that all about?! Well, it's about the only progress being made this week was the backwards kind. I spent three of four sewing nights pulling stitches out of the quilt. And I'm still not finished. But I am *so close*! Also, it was hot. And if it's hot outside, it's just as hot in my sewing room since there is no AC in that place. And I'm pregnant, which doesn't mix well with hot! All that to say, here's what I've got going on this week...

Finish removing the stitches from the Mod Sampler Quilt. Did you know that for every minute you spend sewing something on the machine, you'll spend 5 minutes to take out those same stitches? OK, so that's not scientific fact, but that's about how it seems to me right now. I just need to decide on who I'm going to send it to for the actual quilting. insert sarcastic enthusiasm about paying someone else to do what I want to be doing.

All of the Kitchen Windows blocks are now ready to be sewn together! I finally committed to the light blue sashing, which I still have mixed feelings over, but this was my original instinct so I'm sticking with it. I chose the blue because the other main colors are pink/gray/red and I want Brandon to be able to like the quilt too. I plan to ~~finish~~ start the quilt top this weekend.

I have one last quilt block to make for the MSQB and then I'm officially finished (well except for my quilt). This block is for a man's quilt, so I'm super intimidated by it. I might put it off one more week until I know for sure I've settled on the right block. sorry, Sharon! I did get some "inspiration" about which fabrics to use today though.

I am really behind on getting up my review/reveal of the Amy Butler Sweet Harmony Tote I made last month. I want to take good pictures to show you, but I'm stumped and feel like all my photos are lame-o these days.

I have a New Wave quilt stack ready to go but I need to make/get the template. Oh, and I need to finish "all of the above" before starting this one.

I also need to mop my kitchen floor again. It's been a while.

I am still wondering: What kind of sewing machine do you use and is it pretty good with quilting? I'm starting to think about getting a new machine, and I really want to be able to finish my quilts on it--something I can not do with my current machine.

I'm linking up with Lee today at Freshly Pieced!

W.I.P Wednesday: Kitchen Accessories!

2011-06-08T07:06:00.000-04:00

Up until a month or so ago, I was not expecting to be making new kitchen accessories in this house, but here we are for an indefinite period, and I'm thankful for all the charm of an old kitchen to hang new goods. I've started what will probably be a long process of making little things here and there between the bigger projects to spice up my own kitchen (no swaps for me at this point in pregnancy!).

Most of the fabrics I plan to use are from Alexander Henry's Farmdale line, but I'm sneaking in a few others as well including a piece of Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow and something from Anna Griffin (can't remember the print!) along the edge.

I'm also working on pulling all the stitches out of my sister's quilt so I can send it off to a pro; I need to commit one night and just do it. This is the worst kind of progress to have to make though! I have all the fabric for the Kitchen Windows Quilt and need to finish putting that together, and if time and heat and energy permit, I'll be making one more quilt before baby comes in August. And of course, I have one more Bee block to finish this month as well! So plenty to be working on.

I'm linking up today with the Freshly Piece Work in Progress Wednesday

MSQB: June Block for Sandi

2011-06-05T22:15:00.001-04:00

Sandi chose a really beautiful hexagon log cabin quilt block for her quilt and requested purple and gray with permission to use a few other "pops" of color. We sort of used this tutorial, but I will admit it's more of a guide than anything. It looks waaaay easier there than it really is. That's not in any way meant to slander the blog author!

I'm a little hesitant to show you this block because I feel like I kind of cheated in making it. In reality though I just had a little help from a friend.

My first go at making Layer One of the hexagon looked more like a diamond--not really a great start! I quickly checked the discussion in the MSQB group to see if anyone else had started this block and was having problems, and sure enough Toni said her first try didn't work but she used her ruler's 60-degree angle feature, and that really helped.

First off, I didn't even know my quilting ruler had a 60-degree (or any degree!) angle until she said that. I asked her to post a few pictures, which she did here and here, and that made all the difference. Once I knew how to trim my fabrics after adding each pair, I was able to do this block sans problem. The key is to trim every time you add a pair of fabrics rather than waiting to just trim up your hexie after each layer. (If you're attempting this block, what I am saying will probably make a lot more sense than if you're just casually reading!)

So, after my first layer, I was thrilled. It's so much better than the first try and even has six full sides! All in all I think I spent about 3 hours on the block, including starting over after the first attempt and ripping the seams on two of my triangles when finishing the block.

I have to admit, I'm pretty pleased with how this one came out once it did!

I probably wouldn't recommend this for a bee unless you have a more detailed tutorial or are in a bee with geometry nerds, but if you feel comfortable with a good challenge, this is a great block for it. I can see this turning out many different beautiful ways depending on the color and fabric combination used.

MSQB: May Cathedral Windows Block

2011-06-05T09:44:00.002-04:00

When I started the Modern Stash Quilting Bee, Sara was one of my blog friends who I really hoped would join, and she did. I knew she could be counted on for great style, impeccable skill, and choosing a challenging and creative block. Little did I know just how right I was!

In May, Sara asked everyone to make a Cathedral Windows block using blue and green. This is one of those blocks I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I never would have tried on my own. Sara posted a few tips of her own, and we used the tutorials she linked to in her post to make the block.

Mine came out right on the first try--not something I have been able to say for all my blocks! I really enjoyed making this block, and it is one I could see myself making again. The only thing I did differently was to use pins to secure the printed fabric to the white when making my window frames because I didn't have any glue.

oops! I hit "publish" a few minutes too soon, so my links weren't active yet. I've updated them and hopefully you'll get the "live" version.

Book Review: The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais

2011-06-01T12:00:00.008-04:00

Summary
Haji Hassan, the central character and narrator of Richard C. Morais' debut novel, The Hundred-Foot Journey, has a unique passion and talent for food. Rooted in his grandfather's Bombay lunchbox-delivery-turned-restaurant, and tragic twist of fate transplants his family first in England then in the French Alps where Hassan's real talents and adventures begin.

Hassan's father establishes a Bombay-style restaurant in the quaint Alpine town of Lumiere, only to find that Madame Mallory, Lumiere's local and famed chef, will not allow her grasp of the town's cuisine or culture to be easily infiltrated. The Hundred-Foot Journey is as much fictional memoir as it is an insightful telling of journeys to manhood, friendship, and cultural understanding.

My review
The Hundred-Foot Journey opens as a page-turner, immediately grasping the reader with it's character and plot development. This continues throughout much of the book but seems to loose its grip about 3/4 of the way in. The last 50 pages slowed and lost much of the excitement and potential seen in the first pages. The book ends with some lingering questions, but the questions seem to come out of nowhere and feel fairly forced.
Morais' writing style is authentic, and I caught myself considering this book a memoir rather than fiction on multiple occasions. He brings the key characters to life through his descriptions of their lives, looks, and interactions with others, but there were several characters who remain lifeless in spite of their important role in the book.
Even with those complaints, I did enjoy reading The Hundred-Foot Journey and would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a good fiction. The historical, cultural, and culinary development of each stage of Hassan's journey are in themselves contextual treasures many readers will enjoy.

Because if I don't write something, my last post will have been too long ago

2011-05-31T17:30:00.001-04:00

I think I have started three blog posts in the last week and each one looks something like this:

{Blank}

We returned home from two weeks in California very early Friday morning, and we spent the long weekend recovering from all the fun. My laundry is finally under control, I've cleared some of the ants out of my kitchen, and I think we're all back on Kentucky Time. That's about it, though! I don't have any pictures because the five I took are still on the camera and I need to send my family members discs to put their pictures on so I'll have some proof we were there.

Well, unless fabric counts as proof. I did manage to snag the remaining fabric I needed for my quilt plus a few extra goodies while in CA. You'll have to wait to see that though, because I haven't even photographed it yet!

Oh, and the diaper bag? I have a very ~~(overly)~~ detailed review waiting to be sent to you just as soon as I take some pictures and get them on my computer! For now, here's what I managed to snag off Facebook for you.

Pre-breakfast stroll on Laguna Beach

That's it. Here's to being home and getting back in the swing of things, which hopefully includes some sewing and picture taking!

Friday means sewing days are coming!

2011-05-06T09:30:00.006-04:00

Happy Friday you all! This isn't just any other Friday here in Louisville; it's Oak's Day! (For you non locals, that's the day before the Derby, which is tomorrow.) I don't have any Derby-related plans other than watching the two minute race from the comfort of my sofa, but I do have loads of other plans for the weekend.

I'll be doing some {gentle} stitch ripping to take out the 2+ hours of quilting in the Parisville Modern Sampler I've been working on. I am sending it to a professional to be quilted on a machine that won't get a bent needle after 20 minutes (that's what was causing the tension issues). For those who do their own quilting without a specialized machine, I'm curious to know what kind of sewing machine you have. There is no way mine can handle quilting anything beyond straight lines with a walking foot (if and when I replace the cheap-o one that broke on my first quilt).

I'm also going to be working on my diaper bag! Yay! I cut out all the pieces last night, which was made extra fun thanks to the company of Beth who made herself a camera strap cover while I was cutting. I'm using Joel Dewberry's Tossed Flowers in Carmel and Wildflower in Mulberry along with Denyse Schmidt's Dizzy Dots in Berry (not in the picture). All of them are decor weight fabrics, and I got a really good deal and excellent service here. I think it took me two hours to cut out all of the pieces, but if I were actually following the directions and not completely altering the entire thing it would have only taken one.

Della and I are headed to a friend's birthday party at her home (which is also a gorgeous farm) later this weekend, and I am not sure what I am more excited for--seeing my friend or taking Della to the farm. They are both pretty great prospects! I'll be making a Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad from Mark Bittman's website to share. His recipes are just as fabulous as his writing, in case you haven't discovered them yet.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Etsy Finds

2011-05-05T07:00:00.006-04:00

I am pretty sure Mother's Day isn't just about the gifts; going out to breakfast is a pretty big deal too ;) but I wanted to showcase a few items from Etsy that I think would make great gifts--for Mother's Day or any special occasion.

{Coral Drop Necklace by Yes, Please. Studio}

{Carmel of the Month Club from Have It Confections}

{Stitched Heart by Georgica Designs}

{Hand painted earrings by The Ardent Sparrow}

May MSQB Block 1 of 2: Johanna's block

2011-05-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

Something I have found to be true over and over again when sewing is that if I'm not feeling it, I just can't force it. The reason it took me until the very last day of April to make Hilary's block is that I just wasn't entirely set on what I wanted. I knew if I tried to force it, the block would show its true nature.

In contrast, I actually finished Johanna's May block a few days before the calendar pages were even turned to May. I knew as soon as she posted what I wanted to do, and I made it that night. Like Hilary, Johanna gave a lot of license with her block--she just wanted something that was 12.5" square and included orange, pink, yellow, and white. That's it. Anything goes from there is what she told us!

I had seen this block and wanted to make a similar version without the white sashing. There is a great tutorial to make the block over at Don't Call Me Betsy, and I loosely followed it to make this version for Johanna.

This was a bit of an improv piece, though not nearly as tricky as the Mod Mosaic block I made last month (and having made that already, this one was much easier).

April quilt block for Hilary

2011-05-03T12:00:00.005-04:00

When Hilary posted her description of the April quilt blocks she wanted, I knew it was going to be a favorite. Her theme was flowers, and she gave us free license to interpret that however we wanted--the only limits were that we use the solid fabric she provided for the background and that we not include anything "extra" that would determine the orientation of the block (like baskets, sky, etc.). I browsed through her inspiration gallery and really loved the looks of this block and this pillow. I went with a slightly more simple version of the first block and I finished on April 30--just in time to not be late!

If you're wondering about the quilt or diaper bag, I did buy the fabrics (Joel Dewberry Tossed Flowers in Carmel plus two others) but it looks now like it's not going to happen for a while. The quilting is going to take for-ev-er because my little machine just can't handle it. I am actually incredibly frustrated with it because the tension keep re-adjusting itself so one line will look great and the next looks horrible. I am not really sure what to do. I've stitched close to 1/3 of the the quilt and am wondering if it wouldn't be better to just rip all the stitches out (gently, of course) and send it to a professional. This is more maddening than discouraging. I hate ripping stitches/seams because it just feels like the hours I spent on those were totally wasted, and I don't want to have a bunch of holes all over the quilt when it's finished. At the same time I really don't want to gift a quilt that falls apart after the second washing. Any advice or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

**Update: I decided I'm sending this off to be quilted by a pro. Chris at the CottonPig is offering a great promo this month!**

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday today! If you have some extra time, it's really fun to check out some of the other projects being worked on!

Sew and Tell Friday: Quilt Top and more plans

2011-04-29T08:30:00.003-04:00

It's Sew and Tell time, folks! I love this link party and having a place to feed my obsession for new projects--via the hard work of someone else!

Over the last few days pretty much the only thing I can think about--besides food or sleep or my too cute little girl or handsome hubby--is my sister's quilt. I.love.it. Every step of the way I feel like it keeps getting better and better. And now I'm at the big step: quilting it!! Well, almost. I still have to sew two big chunks of fabric to the back, but they are scheduled to arrived chez moi today and will be ready to go in no time. Then I have to mop my floor. Then I have to make my quilt sandwich and pin it. I plan to do all that tonight. Then I get to quilt it! I wish I could convey just how dang excited I am about this. Even if my sister hates it, I will almost be ok with it because I'm so gaga over this darned quilt. Here is (part of) the top.

In other sewing news, I have all but bought the fabric for my diaper bag. I went back and forth trying to decided whether to just buy one and I actually had one picked out. Then I read the reviews and decided even at half off it wasn't going to be worth the money and I should just make it. Then I decided I need to have my new diaper bag in hand by the end of next week. Um, yeah, so I'm feeling slightly crazy for that considering that in that same time frame I also need to finish the quilt and two bee blocks. Plus get some sleep and still take care of my family. Good thing my floors will already have been mopped, because I just don't see that happening again until I'm finished!

As if that's not enough, I decided I need to make my diaper bag from Amy Butler's Sweet Harmony Bag & Tote Pattern. Yes, I know you now think I've really lost it. I hate her patterns while I am making them, and I really mean that. But I love the final outcome. I can feel my blood pressure rising already--good thing it's naturally low. If you hear some strange words coming from my sewing room in the next week or so, don't worry it's just French. I'll let you know how things go--and whether or not I actually hit the "Buy Now" button. {image from Amy Butler's website}

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

2011-04-28T12:30:00.004-04:00

{no spoilers here!}

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet opens in 1986 with Henry Lee being jolted from the reality of his wife's recent death with the discovery of hundreds of items in the basement of Seattle's Panama Hotel. These items were personal belongings hastily placed in the hotel's basement some 40 years earlier by Japanese Americans just hours before their "evacuation" to internment camps. For Henry, the discovery awakens memories he too had hidden deep within and begins a journey between 1986 and the early 1940s when Henry was a young Chinese American who had fallen in love with a Japanese American school mate.

Exploring themes surrounding World War II, the Japanese internment, and life as a Chinese (or Japanese) American during that time, author Jamie Ford offers a compelling look at history through the stories of Henry's life.

My book club is currently reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and I finished it in about 4 days. This is one of those books that grabbed me at the very beginning and just didn't let go. Historical fiction is particularly interesting to me as it helps me learn about real events through stories (I knew next to nothing about the topics Ford covers). The author deeply develops each of the characters and although there were a few instances that seemed a bit unrealistic, this helped to move the story along. Ford also successfully balances the emotions of the stories without over-dramatizing the events.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet now resides at the top of my list of "favorite book club reads". Maybe one of these days I'll actually write out that list for you :)

reflections on rest

2011-04-26T12:00:00.008-04:00

Sipping tea before the sun rose this morning, I was gently reminded that this is a season of celebration.

Sunday was the day to celebrate the greatest of days: the day Jesus rose from death to life, victorious over the forces of darkness.

Bleary eyed, sleepy, wondering what the day would hold, I heard the voice speaking truth to celebrate, to soak in the life given, and above all to realize the promise and the call to rest.

My meditations this morning drifted in and out of praise and relief. Cease striving is the call I heard and the call I share.

"Praise the Lord, my soul, forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion..."

from Psalm 103

"In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength..."

from Isaiah 30

Life has been redeemed, restored. Don't turn back to darkness.

As a bit of a side note, this is the first year I have been following the Christian calendar via the lectionary series in the Book of Common Prayer. Since I could not offer a food fast for lent, I "fasted" from sleep, rising early to meet the day and the Lord. This has been incredibly powerful and is extending beyond Lent.
For me this has been a challenging time to sit and listen, to pray and meditate, rather than to study and aim to formulate doctrines. It has also been a freeing time of relationship not only with the Almighty but with the millions of others who read these same passages day in and day out, sacred readings and sacred spaces all combining in a community of faith we will one day see.

I'm linking up ShoutLaughLove today

Winners!!

2011-04-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

First, I loved reading your "random comments" in response to the fabric giveaway. It's fun to know little bits about you or what you are working on! Feel free to leave more comments like that on any post--whether or not it has to do with what I said ;)

Second, I'm reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and the suspense is killing me. Does he find her or not?!

Speaking of suspense.... do you want to know who the winners are? Ok. fine. I used random.org to help me pick the numbers but totally forgot to save the pictures of the numbers!! I'm pretty sure there's some blog rule I'm breaking with that, but since it's my giveaway, I guess I can give myself permission to do that.

Package One will be heading out to Kelly with comment #3!
Kelly said...
i'm finished up dresses for my girls for easter! i've never made any garments before, but i'm using an oliver + s pattern, and their reputation of being easy to follow has not let me down. i only have the buttons left!
April 17, 2011 10:45 PM

I hope you post pictures of the finished dresses! I have yet to try an Oliver + S pattern but have certainly been tempted!

And Package Two will be heading out to Jacqueline with comment #15!
Jacqueline said...
Well, something interesting. One of your sisters was one of my best friends in the whole world through gradeschool...

So, it's a small sewing world indeed when my older sister's best friend from grade school (she totally remembers, by the way!) wins my giveaway!

Congrats to both of you ladies. I'll send out an email to you later today to get your mailing address. If you didn't win, don't worry. I had so much fun I think I'll do it again soon ;) Also you can still use the code iRead10 to get 10% off in my destash shop (which I hope to update this weekend).

In the mean time, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend. I know for many of us, this is a big weekend not just of celebrating family and Spring (which are both big deals), but also the very core of our faith.

Diaper bag sewing plans

2011-04-20T17:00:00.001-04:00

***If you haven't entered the fabric giveaway, you still have one more day!***

When I was pregnant with Della, I had plenty of time to plan out all kinds of projects for her. Now with this baby I'm so busy keeping up with Della I hardly have time to think of anything else! I have been thinking about diaper bags though and trying to fit diapers, bottles, sippy cups, and the like for two little ones into one bag.

I made this bag with a Craft Apple sewing pattern before Della was born and I still use it. I love the pockets, size, double straps, all of it. But it's definitely showing signs of wear, so I need a new one.

I'm contemplating using this pattern again but have also seen some others I really like. Among my top choices is this Favorite Things Diaper Bag. It's pretty similar to the Craft Apple pattern, isn't it? I don't think I realized that until I put them both up here. Maybe I'll just need to figure out a way to marry what I like about both to get it just right...

This is subject to change at any time, but the fabrics I'm leaning towards today are all heavier-weight cottons that I think will hold up well to repeated use

Anna Maria Horner :: Drawing Room :: Plume in Raspberry

Joel Dewberry :: Ginseng Collection :: Tossed Flowers in Camel

Love of Nature Japanese Cotton fabric {found here}

To be honest, I have so many other projects that need to come before this, I wouldn't be surprised if I don't start it until June. It's fun to look and plan though, and if you have any suggestions for great fabrics or patterns, I would love to hear them!

Weekend rewind

2011-04-19T12:00:00.021-04:00

Yes, I do realize that most people no longer own anything with a rewind button. I also realize the weekend was officially over as of yesterday morning, but this week is already going by so quickly I am barely able to wrap my head around it being Tuesday. And while we are talking about this week flying by, be sure you enter the fabric giveaway before I shut things down in just a few days!

One of the bad things about the week moving so quickly is that I haven't had time to plug in my camera (with 200+ photos from the last few days) into the computer and get them ready to go up here. I have, however, had time to take a few quick shots with my phone (soooo not the same; I know).

I finished all 6 sets of the quilt blocks for my sister's quilt with the Parisville and Kona solids fabrics. I am using the Mod Sampler quilt pattern from Elizabeth Hartman, and so far I. love. this. quilt. I think if she didn't know I am making it for her, I would keep the quilt for myself and send my sister something else!

{A quick word on the pattern: It's easy. And fun. Because you make 6 different sets of blocks it's great for setting up a mini-assembly line while piecing, but there's enough variety to keep it from being monotonous.}

Now that the piecing is finished, I am slightly intimidated to start the next steps of putting together the quilt top and then doing the actual quilting. Also I will need to mop my kitchen floor before attempting to make the quilt sandwich. You wouldn't make a sandwich on a dirty plate, would you? Can I just say I swept that floor FIVE times over the weekend. And it's still dirty. How does that happen?!

Not that you wanted to know about how dirty my floors are (but now you do). This is one of the main reasons.

The girl loves to throw things...especially her food. I think I'll keep her though, dirt and all.
{yes. we were at IHOP. I let them clean up after her for one meal. And yes. It was in response to a pregnancy craving...who else serves pancakes at 6pm on a Sunday??}

I hope you all had a great weekend and got some work done--maybe even a little mopping.

Fabric Giveaway!

2011-04-17T12:00:00.036-04:00

***The giveaway is now closed!***

I promised it, and I wasn't kidding! I'm clearing out my stash and adding to yours. *cue the confetti*

Prize one includes a yard of apple corduroy and a "mystery yard". This is a fabulous fuschia cotton fabric with a fun textured goldenrod thread running throughout. The other half of this package includes various cuts from my "neutral" stash, including some Robert Kaufman, Joel Dewberry, and Sandy Gervais fabrics.

Prize two is from my "warm" and "cool" stashes and includes several Fat Quarters, a half yard of Anna Maria Horner's Ice Dance Floor among others.

I know if I go on and on you're not going to read it because you really just want to know how to win so.....

You have two chances to win:
1. Leave a comment letting me know something interesting (what project you're working on, your favorite way to buy fabric--online, in FQ sets, random half yards..., the last dessert you made, etc.)

2. If you are a follower of this blog, leave an extra comment letting me know.

The {fun} rules:

You must leave one comment for each entry. Your email address needs to be included with your comment so I can contact you if you win.

The giveaway is open internationally and will run from Noon EDT Sunday, April 17 through 8pm EDT Thursday, April 21. I will use Random.org to choose the winners and will assign the prize packages based on the order your number comes up on Random.org. I will announce the winners on the blog Friday, April 22 and will also email each winner. In the event an email address is not available, I will still announce your name, and you will have until Sunday, April 24 to get back to me. After that, I'm going to choose another winner.

{{{Remember that if you use the code iRead10 over at my destash shop you will get 10% off your total purchase price--not including shipping--through April 30!}}}

Living in reality = DESTASH

2011-04-15T12:00:00.002-04:00

My younger sister wrote yesterday about having to pack up her sewing room and move it to her attic. I'm in denial, but one day soon I will also have to pack up my sewing room and figure out how to make it all fit in a smaller space. The sad truth is that it won't all fit, but I have been living somewhere between awareness and denial of that fact for the last few months.

{image source}

Last night I decided to go through some of my fabric stash and choose some I could part with. These are all fabrics I really like (or I would not have spent my money on them!) but I just know I can't use every last piece. I put up some yardage and FQs over at the FabAttic, and--brace yourselves--next week I'll be giving some of it away in a mega giveaway with multiple prizes!

Speaking of giveaways...does anyone know when the next Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway event is going to be?? Did I miss it or have they just not released details yet?

Oh, and in the spirit of giving things away, if you mention the code iRead10 over at FabAttic you will receive 10% off your total purchase price (not including shipping). This will be good through the end of April. (lucky you!)

For the record, the picture above is not of my sister's sewing space or mine. It's a great example of making do with the space that is available--something we will both need to do!

This weekend I will be starting on my other sister's quilt. I actually started last night with cutting but hope to start sewing all the blocks together as well. I'm putting the Kitchen Windows on hold until this is finished because her graduation and birthday are right around the corner! What are you doing this weekend?

MSQB April Block 1: Wonky Star

2011-04-12T07:00:00.001-04:00

After the Mod Mosaic block, Lindsey's MSQB block was a welcome relief! I was able to complete this wonky star in under an hour--including choosing my fabrics. I think it would be a fun one to make a quilt out of someday.

Mod Mosaic Block Take Two (and another quilty tip)

2011-04-08T19:00:00.003-04:00

{This post could also be titled: How to Fry Your Brain}

It's official now: March is over. I mailed my last March MSQB block Friday morning after a grueling Thursday evening making it. We followed the instructions from Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow and made it 12.5" square.

Remember Take One of this block? Take Two is so. much. better. The seams don't look wonky thanks to my handy new 1/4" presser foot!, and it really is a square, not an odd-sized rectangle. Also I feel like the fabrics go together a bit better. I stuck with polka dots rather than a bunch of different prints. This is such a busy block and I feel like that helps bring some balance.

Another fun theme here you wouldn't otherwise know is that all of these fabrics are from a little scrap swap I did with Sara a few weeks back. So these all came from her stash! she felt bad for me after I ranted about not knowing of these sorts of things and swapped with me even though her swap had already closed...thanks again, Sara!

For those wondering about making this block...it is difficult. I'm not gonna lie. My head still hurts from thinking this one through. The only measurements you are given to go by are the 1" sashing pieces you cut and then whatever your end goal is for a final size. From there you have to decide how you are going to meet that goal.

The very first thing I did was make the section with the diagonal lines. I knew that if I were going to attempt that I had to get it right before going any further. Once I had those pieces sewn together and ironed, I trimmed them so the edges were all even and basically counted it as one piece of the puzzle. Then I began to lay out the rest of my fabric to fill a 13" square. From there I just started pairing smaller pieces together in the middle and eventually got all the pieces sewn together. If I hadn't used every ounce of mental energy I have on this, I would have thought to take pictures for you to see what the heck I mean.

I trimmed as I sewed, so sometimes I would have unsewn pieces overlapping on the 13" template, but once they were sewn and trimmed, they fit right. Also, because of the way the sashing is added, when you lose a 1/4" side of the fabric to sewing it together, you gain it back from the sashing so don't lay out the sashing in the 13" square with the rest of the fabrics.

If that all reads like jibberish, I'm sorry. It still feels like jibberish to me. All I know is that I somehow managed to get this to look good; that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I should also say that although this was the most difficult block I have sewn, it was also the most rewarding. I most certainly did do several fist pumps and a small booty shake upon completion of the block.

And for those of you still with me after the fist pumps and booty shake, here's your quilty tip: Check your needle placement before pressing GO! Oops! I forgot to set my needle to the center, so it missed the little hole in my presser foot and broke & bent instead. My bad. Sorry needle. You needed to be replaced anyways. I always keep plenty of extras in my sewing basket for moments like this that's the other half of your tip in case you missed it.

Have you made this block? Did you find it to be difficult or not so much? I imagine that there are people our there who didn't have such a challenge with this, but I am not one of them!

Opposites Photography Class: Old and New

2011-04-08T10:00:00.001-04:00

Beth V's Opposites Photography Class started with the themes of Old and New. In the first we were encouraged to focus our attention on balancing the light in the photo with the camera set to Manual. That's right folks. I moved the button! The second idea was to focus on perspective.

{{{Quick Question: Does anyone know how to find out what Aperture/Shutter Speed/ISO I used on each shot in either iPhoto or Flickr? I want to include that information with the pictures, but when I'm taking 50 of the same thing, I can't remember which is which! Once I get that, I'll edit to add the correct info for each picture.}}}

OLD I took a whole bunch of ugly photos of this beautiful teapot my hubby's grandmother gave me when we were getting married. The teapot belonged to her mother--or his grandpa's mother...I need to double check on that! I love the gold lines painted on the handle and spout of the of the pot. This sits on my "window sill" in the kitchen over my sink. It's actually a little cubby in our cabinets where I keep my favorite cookbooks and a few other treasures.

It was really hard for me to work on balancing the light in these shots. It wasn't because the lighting was off or my camera wasn't cooperating; it's just a totally new concept to me. I've worked in Aperture mode before, but never fully in Manual. Also once I changed the perspective of my shot to focus on the details I was able to get something I actually liked.

NEW What's better than new fabric?! I ordered some Kona Solids last week from the Fat Quarter Shop to go with some of the Parisville FQs I already had. These will all be made into a quilt for my older sister.

In the first shot, I just focused on the new fabrics and getting the light to balance. I am loving these colors!

In the next shots I added the element of perspective and the rest of the fabrics. Notice how the second one looks so much better just from being taken at a diagonal rather than straight on.

For those of you who are reading for the fabric more than the photography no judgment here on that one!, the Kona solids are (from top to bottom) Hibiscus, Pansy, Pistachio, Pond and Snow.

I have a Kona solids card I won a long time ago from Purl Soho (thanks again!), and at the time I thought it was pretty lame. I didn't use solid fabrics and didn't plan to. Fast forward to today and I am slowly growing in my appreciation for solids and thus for the card. It's so much better than looking at my computer screen trying to decide which of the 25 shades of green to use with my fabrics! I'll admit that I'm less likely to branch out to other brands because of this (good job RK, you got me!) but I'm OK with that.

I'm linking up with the rest of the "students" at Beth V's blog today! Check out their old and new perspectives, too!

April Sewing Plans

2011-04-06T07:00:00.006-04:00

I had lofty plans for a free Monday evening--mainly to finish my block for Pam that really should have been in the mail Monday morning. However, Della had other ideas. Our usual 15 bedtime routine took 2 hours.Not only did my sewing plans go out the window, but so did any cleaning, eating, etc. That's okay though because I got in some quality cuddle time with my little girl (which is becoming increasingly difficult with a growing belly).

I still need to re-make Pam's block, and then I get to make the April blocks--both of which I'm excited about.

Lindsey is asking for a wonky star using any combination of teal, orange, and/or white. I need to check my stash, but I have a fair idea of what I'll be using for this one already.

source: Lindsey's block

Hilary is going for a block I was hoping someone would do during the bee: an improvised flower block using the neutral background fabric she is sending and just about any bright colored fabrics. I really like the quilts I have seen where each block is a totally unique interpretation of "flower", "tree", "house", etc. Hilary put together a really good inspiration set on Flickr for us, and I chose my favorites and added them to an Improv Flower Gallery.

{source: Hilary's block}

{source}

My other April sewing plans include finishing the Kitchen Windows quilt (all the blocks are now finished!), making a dress for Della, and starting a quilt for my older sister's graduation/birthday! If I'm really ambitious, or just need a simple project, I may make up a few more napkin sets for one of our local shops I've badly neglected lately.

Opposites: A free photogrpahy class

2011-04-05T17:30:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of the little pact we made a few weeks ago, I wanted to let you know about Opposites: a free photography class which starts tomorrow at Beth V Photography!

Every time I grab my camera to take pictures of what I have sewn, I think I need to use this more often. Then I don't pick it up again until I have another fresh sewing project--or some delicious cupcakes. I think Opposites will be a good motivator to get the camera in my hands (and the settings off auto!) a bit more. I mean, it's probably pretty hard to go wrong getting tips and ideas from a pro every other day for a month, right?!

If you're interested, there's still time to head over and join in on the fun. There will be a Flickr group to show off your mad skills and everything :) I hope to see you there!

Triple Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes

2011-04-05T09:45:00.000-04:00

I know cupcakes were all the rage in recent years, and some people say they are now "out", but I'm not really sure I get how something like a cupcake could ever really be "out". I mean, I'm not sporting cupcake t-shirts or anything like that, but come on, Folks! When you have something that resembles this,

I would say it's nothing by in!

I had the opportunity to celebrate a friend's birthday this weekend pot-luck style, and I was asked to bring the birthday cake. I went with Triple Chocolate Cupcakes from the Cheeky Kitchen archives. (I made this recipe as cupcakes for Della's birthday last year.) It's really hard to go wrong--or be out--when you're using three different kinds of chocolate for one cupcake.

Three little notes for you if you make these cupcakes (and if they are for a birthday).
ONE: The cupcake base is really rich and dense. I would actually like to try these again but will play around with the chocolate-to-sugar ratio because they were almost too chocolately--yes, it's possible when you're using real baking chocolate.
TWO: Don't be intimidated by the chocolate filling. It was more liquid-y than I expected, but it was fine. Just prepare it in a glass measuring cup with a little pour spout so you can fill your cupcakes easily. I let my cupcakes sit in the frig for 30 minutes after filling to get it all to set.
THREE: If you're celebrating a birthday, remember the candles! Whoops. I left mine with the lighter on the counter at home. Faux Pas.

And if you're wondering about that third layer of chocolate, it's in the frosting. The OMG delicious white chocolate frosting. There's still a small bowl in my frig that I just can't bear to toss out--or eat because it's so sweet and delicious.

Do you have a favorite cupcake recipe (or t-shirt)? If you're still a believer like me and want some cute wrappers, this shop is where I got mine.

Mod Mosaic Quilt Block

2011-04-01T12:00:00.008-04:00

This post could also be called How Not to Make a Mod Mosaic Quilt Block!

March's second quilt block for MSQB was a Mod Mosaic block based off the Oh, Fransson! Mod Masaic Pillow tutorial. I haven't actually finished my block yet (and now it is April...yikes!), but here's my first try

I actually really like this block and plan to make a little pillow or something else out of it, but I don't think it's quite suitable for sending to a bee member. For one, it's quite off the requested size of 12.5" square; instead it's a 10x11" rectangle--I think at this point adding to it is not a good option. And I made this prior to buying my new presser foot, so the seams are fairly inconsistent.

I went about making this block in a semi-chaotic fashion, which isn't really a great idea. I cut a few pieces, sewed them together, cut a few more, sewed those together then to the first piece, and so on. However, there needs to be some math and forethought involved if you have a specific size in mind for the finished product. Otherwise getting to that size may not be so easy (trust me!).

This weekend I plan to make another similar block but I think I will try a new approach: cut all the piece at once and lay them out on a 12.5" template. Then add the white pieces and trim to size. Does that sound reasonable to you more experienced quilters??

Kitchen Windows Quilt Preview {and a quilty tip}

2011-03-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Each time I finish one of these blocks, I feel a bit more giddy than the last. I absolutely love how the fabrics look together, and each block offers it's own slightly different view into the fabrics. I had four blocks finished when I took the photos and am up to six as of typing this post. My goal is to finish the other six this weekend. (I am averaging about 30 minutes per block, not including cutting the fabric.)

I'm still planning to use a smokey blue for the sashing and probably pink for the binding. I haven't decided on the back yet; I think I would like to use a soft flannel to make it extra cozy since it will {hopefully} be used and loved in our living room.

Before I started sewing these blocks together, I broke down and purchased a 1/4 inch quilting foot with a guide. My machine actually came with about 10 different presser feet, but this was not one of them. I had been using my regular presser foot set to a 1/4" seam, but I noticed it was really hard to keep the seam consistent toward the end. Here's my quilty tip: If you do not have one of these, GO GET ONE. Mine was $17.49 at Hancock Fabrics (I also checked two local quilt shops and Joann's; none of them had this foot...), but I know you can order them online for that price or less (I didn't want to wait). I have been putting this off for the last few months, but it was so worth buying the extra foot. My seams are so much more accurate now, and they really are consistent. Also, when I'm piecing the smaller bits together, the foot does a much better job keeping the fabrics from bunching than my regular presser foot ever did. Best. Purchase. Ever*.
*with many exceptions granted

I also bought some small quilting pins that I think are much better for holding all those little seams in place while sewing blocks together than the regular sized pins do. I wouldn't call these a necessity, but I do notice the difference and am glad I have them.

I'm enjoying the process of making this quilt even more than I thought I would. It definitely helps that I love each and every one of the fabrics, and Elizabeth Hartman does a great job explaining each step to help a newby quilter like myself to feel a little less like a complete amateur. (The pattern is from The Practical Guide to Patchwork)

Do you have any essential supplies you put off for a while before buying?

Della wanted you to know...

2011-03-30T07:00:00.007-04:00

...she is expecting a baby sister!

We had The Big Ultrasound last Friday, and our little girl was nice enough to show us that she is in fact a she. So that means I have to start planning things like matching Christmas outfits and coordinating summer clothes! muahahaha! I'm pretty sure my mom steered clear of coordinating the three girls because she considered it cruelty to have to dress like her little sister, but I'm thinking Della could handle it--at least for a few years! (Although I do recall several family photos involving matching outfits...)

Because we have no clue where we will be living when Baby Girl 2 arrives (she is unnamed at this point), I'm not planning on making much in the way of nursery decor. I will hold off on that until we know where we will be and what I'll have to work with in terms of space. I really want to re-do the nursery into a big girl/little girl room though and would love to use a "Storybook" or "Alphabet" theme (or some combination of both).

Here's just a little peek at what I've been eyeing lately for the projects I can't really do!

Far Far Away 2 by Heather Ross available here

Carmel Town Fabric by Lecien seen here

1001 Peeps by Lizzy House for Andover Fabrics

Woodland Alphabet Print from Loxly Hollow

Castle Peeps Royal Sampler by Lizzy House

Obviously those are all pretty different, but I think that once we move--whenever that happens to be--I will narrow my focus and pick one or two and go from there.

In the meantime I should probably plan a project I can do like more baby dresses or a new diaper bag.

Catching up is fun to do

2011-03-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

Friends, I have to tell you, I had a wonderful week last week. We took a little vacation to South Carolina to see some family, and it was so. fun. and. relaxing. Even the 12 hours of driving each way were enjoyable.

We did quite a bit of sitting around and catching up with family, playing outside Della, and watching her try to chase cats and dogs around the house. We also went to the beach (yay for warm weather!), took a boat ride, spent a few minutes in downtown Charleston (if you haven't been there, you need to go), and I got to catch up with my bff from high school.

We took the boat out on the Intracoastal Waterway off Edisto. Can I just say that I love being on the boat? I do. My dad won this boat in a Carp tournament many years ago, so it's been part of many fantastic memories in my life. I'm a water girl and I could have spent the week on the boat.

We were out during high tide, so we got to explore some of the tide creeks and look for alligators. We didn't see any, but we did see an eagle and an osprey.

I wasn't sure if Della would love the boat or hate it, but thankfully she loved it. This was her first time, and she was not scared in the least--not even when we went fast!

I just think this is a cute shot. She enjoyed sporting her summer clothes and exploring the house. Rocking chairs on the front porch? Yep, she has that one down.

This was actually a few days before we left for vacation when we had something akin to Spring weather here. I'm not sure what happened, but the day after we returned from 80 degrees in Charleston it snowed here. I made this dangerous* pasta with tomato cream sauce (*dangerous=delicious and I can't stop thinking about it two weeks later), which we both enjoyed at dinner for several nights in a row.

Up later this week: a baby update and some preview shots of the living room quilt!

One more shot of a side creek of the Intracoastal.

Let's make a pact.

2011-03-16T12:00:00.002-04:00

{This is supposed to be a post with finishes from the weekend but something happened to my pictures, and due to technical difficulties, we're putting that off and working out this little pact...}

image source

Friends, there are some pretty sweet swaps out there. Mug Rugs. Pillows. Mini Quilts. Fabric. and lots more. The problem is I feel like I *almost* always find out about these swaps just days after they close. And I'm not the type to email the hard working volunteer organizing the swap asking him/her to make an exception for me. I just suck it up and move on, hoping I'll find out about the next one days before it closes.

{Please note, I just deleted an entire paragraph of whining about this.}

Let's get on with this pact of ours, shall we? If you hear about a swap, even if you're not participating--but especially if you are!--don't be shy about getting the word out on your blog. I pinky-promise I will do the same! (But given my track record, you're not likely to learn about these swaps from me first.)

{End of rant and pact making. Please feel free to spread the pact love around!}

Mom's birthday bag & an announcement

2011-03-11T07:00:00.010-05:00

Go way back to November with me for a minute, will you? That's when my mom celebrated her birthday. It's also when she visited and brought me some fabric she wanted made into a lunch bag. Actually, she brought the lining and I let her pick out the outside fabrics. I told her it would be a few weeks because I needed to finish some Christmas gifts but I would have it for her before the school started again (she's a teacher, you see).

Now fast forward to today. Yes, today as in five months later today. My mom got her bag in the mail (although she was more excited by the picture Della colored for her than the bag...). She does like it though and said it was worth the wait.

I say it's her fault it took so long though. You see, she had to go and have another grandbaby come into the picture. Shortly after she requested the bag, she also found out she would be getting another grandchild sometime in August of this year. And that grandchild of hers spent its first three months of gestation taking every ounce of energy I had. Remember the two month sewing hiatus? Yep, it was that little bitty baby. With that said, I am immensely thankful for the time to rest and the new life we will be welcoming just five more months from now. I'm also thankful for the renewed energy that comes with the second trimester.

p.s. I decided on the quilt. I'm going to do the Kitchen Windows quilt. I ordered four of the print fabrics and will use 2 from my stash. I also have a gift card to a local quilt shop, so I'll use that to get my solids--charcoal/dark gray for the window panes and icey blue for the sashing. I have no clue about the backing or binding yet. I'll figure that out after I get the top finished!

Dress a Girl Around the World Reminder

2011-03-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

Last week I told you I was going to participate in the Dress a Girl Around the World Sew Along. That is in full swing now, and it's not too late for you to join too! You can find a super easy (read: MAX 2 hour project) Pillowcase Dress Tutorial to help you, and if you want to make a smaller or larger size, you can check out these measurements.

I finished my dress Monday night but haven't been able to get photos yet, so I'm going to share some of my favorites from the Flickr Pool of finished dresses.

Source

Are you participating in this or another charity-type sewing group? I know there are so many charities and ways to use your sewing skills to benefit others. Our church also makes dresses for an orphanage in Ghana, and I am constantly seeing calls for quilts to be made for orphans, soldiers, or those harmed by various tragedies around the world.

Some major quilting inspiration

2011-03-09T18:00:00.006-05:00

In keeping with my over-ambitious self, I spent too much time this week looking at various quilting projects and fabric. I really love the idea of using a custom fabric bundle that combines various designer lines and different kinds of fabric (voile, for example). In my browsing, I came up this fabric at Hawthorne Threads.

I think peonies are a beautiful balance of bold and delicate, very feminine. The color combination is superb here as well. So I started looking through some fabrics with similar colors (I love the color finder tool on the HT website!) and I came up with this little combination~

1. Harajuku Peony in Brite, Alexander Henry
2. Zen Garden in Gray, Patty Young for Michael Miller
3. Free Spirit Designer Solid in Crystal
4. Four Square in Lilac, Anna Mariah Horner for Westminster/Free Spirit (voile)
5. Peeking Polka Dot in Gray, Laura Gunn for Michael Miller
6. Blue Bell in Nude, Alexander Henry (voile)
7*. Dangling Ovals in Poetry, Patricia Bravo Art Gallery

I'm not entirely sold on #7, but from the selections at HT, this was a favorite. I also like this foliage print as well as this "unknown" from my last MSQB block.

I haven't added anything to my cart, but I'm seriously considering it. I have two quilt patterns that I have been wanting to make for a while, so I would use it for one of these (sources for images pasted below each).

Image Source

Kitchen Windows Quilt from The Practical Guide to Patchwork

Image Source

New Wave Quilt

What do you all think? Do you like the color/print combination? Do you have a preference for which quilt pattern they would look best in? Do you think I should scrap this and start over? I need a little help making up my mind!

Fabric love (and a thank you)

2011-03-06T19:28:00.000-05:00

It has been nearly 3 months since I have bought any fabric. This, folks, may be a record. I try not to track these sorts of things too often. Well, for my birthday back in January, I received a Joann's gift card from Beth. Then last week I received a whole stack of coupons from Joann. Then today we went to the late service at church, so I told Hubby that if we left early we could get donuts which he could eat in the car while I went in and bought some new fabric with my gift card. "Deal," he said!

So, here's what I got.

3 yds. Kona White fabric
1 yd Gray fabric
1 yd Cute birds
1/2 yd Pretty purple with bright flowers
FQ Orange with green dots
(not pictured: a new box of pins)

These two are my favorites.

Thanks, Beth!

Patchwork Square in a Square Quilting Bee Block

2011-03-05T19:18:00.000-05:00

You all, I am on a roll! I finished Casey's block for the Modern Stash Quilting Bee, and it's only Saturday. That means I have two more nights to sew (OK, and clean) before this week is officially over in my book. Casey is having us send blocks based on Patchwork Square in a Square tutorial from the Sometimes Crafter, and it's the perfect block to make a quilt for her daughter's room.

Does anyone know what the pink fabric is below? I bought a FQ of it a while ago but didn't get the side of the selvedge that has the info printed on it. Any help with identification would be great!

Dress a Girl Around the World Sew Along

2011-03-02T12:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, some ladies from my church got together to sew some dresses to send to an orphanage in Ghana. For several reasons--the most legitimate being lack of childcare for Della--I could not participate beyond donating some fabric. I'm making up for it this month though by committing to participate here.

I think a sew-a-long is a great idea, but I typically find out about them once they have started. This one starts next week though, so I actually have time to plan it into my increasingly-limited sewing time. So it looks like March is fairly booked for me. Mom's lunch bag, two quilt blocks, a pillow dress, AND if I have time, I need to make my quilt top from all the lovely blocks I received back in January.

What are your March sewing plans?

Finished! Liberated Churn Dash Quilt Block

2011-02-27T21:02:00.000-05:00

It's finished, and I still hold to what I said: This is a fun block to make! You don't need a lot of precise measuring. I enjoyed the color scheme Toni chose; I had more red than I thought I did! If you quilt or just want to try a block, this is a great one to try!

Sneak Peek: Liberated Churn Dash Block

2011-02-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm working on my second MSQB block this weekend, and I have to say this one is truly *fun*. We are making a Liberated Church Dash Block, and even making the initial cuts was a thrill because there was no measuring. It's an improv style block with a basic layout and structure, but not a lot of precise measuring--which I love! It's so different than the last block which involved incredibly precise measuring and cutting.

This also makes me really thankful that I have my own space for sewing. I am making quite a mess with this block, and being able to close the door and walk away from it until tomorrow night is something I'm thankful for.

Oh yes. The sneak peek. I have finished 2 of the 9 sections.

I will be finishing the rest the weekend and show you the final results just as soon as I can!

New project idea: Placemats!

2011-02-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

After finishing the pinwheel block, I am feeling more like I actually want to go sew. (yay!) I still have one more bee block for this month plus my mom's seriously-overdue birthday gift to finish, but after that I want to make something for my home. Sara just posted some gorgeous place mats that she made using this pattern from fabric designer Amanda Murphy. {photo from SewSweetness}

I have a beautiful stack of Parisville fabrics that I have been trying to decide what to do with, and I think the place mat project will be perfect. I love table linens, but our little Ikea table is too small to accommodate 4 standard place mats. These should be perfect!

MSQB: Pinwheels

2011-02-21T20:34:00.000-05:00

I knew doing the Quilting Bee would be a good thing, but I didn't think it would be the one thing getting my butt to my sewing machine this month! I'm thankful to have a solid motivation to get me there!

One of our hosts this month is doing a pinwheel sampler, and she left the interpretation of pinwheel up to us. I decided to go with this tutorial to make mine and am so glad I did. I love the way the colors go together, and this was a fairly simple block to make (although all of the cutting was definitely enough to make me glad I'm not making 12 of these blocks!)

My energy levels are not what they were pre-winter and pre-everyone in our house being sick for a month, but it's been wonderful to use some of my free time to do something other than cleaning :)

February shall be my organizing month.

2011-02-01T17:31:00.012-05:00

January turned out to be a month of rest for us. Della had Croup, I ended up with a two-day flu that took a week to recover from, and my hubby seems to be recovering from 4 1/2 years of seminary. I couldn't believe I was turning a page in the calendar this morning, but sure enough, here we are in February already!

Can I say that it's been really nice to not do any sewing this past month? I'm looking forward to getting going on my bee blocks and making my mom a bag for her birthday (which was 2+ months ago...sorry Mom!), but that may be it for me, and that's OK.

Our house has been in a sad state of disarray, and I am channeling some of my creative energies to focus on taking care of it! There's a good chance we could end up moving into a smaller space in the next year, so I need to get things figured out here or there may be no hope for any apartment of ours!

I just found the 52 Weeks of Organization Challenge, and I think some of it may be helpful for me. I'm not quite ready to commit to 52 projects, but I do have 6, and that's a good enough start for me!

[this is a total side note, but I highly recommend the book, Organizing for Your Brain Type by Lanna Nakone. This book really helped me to understand how I function best, and it isn't the way most "organizational tips" tell me to do things. This is a great starting point for figuring out what you need to do to get control of the clutter in a way that really suits who you are.]

It helps me to set really specific goals, so here is what mine look like at this point. You really don't have to read this, but if you're in need of some de-cluttering, maybe this will help!

1. Tackle the Paper Piles

Gather all piles from bedroom, living room, and kitchen
Sort piles for recycling, filing, and action
Go through current file drawer and get rid of files we no longer need. Be sure files are in appropriate folders.
Act on "Action" items
File "File" pile. :)
Hang the new letter organizer and figure out how to use it effectively.

2. Clean the carpets

Vacuum main bathroom (yes, it is carpeted...we rent.)
Clean all carpet in main bathroom with cleaner (I borrowed a carpet cleaning machine from a friend)
Clean carpet in walkway of both bedrooms
Clean rugs in living room and dining room

3. Improve Recycling System/Shoe catch (this is our version of a mud room...a 3x5 foot corner between the dryer and wall when you walk in the back door)

Determine "inside" and "outside" recycling items
Don't be lazy about putting stuff outside!
Clean out the recycle can
Mop the recycle area and make space for shoes

4. Bedroom Closet

Pull down everything off the shelves and determine whether we still need it
Get rid of what we are not using. If it isn't in season, put it in the storage room for later use
Go through shoes and get rid of ones we never wear
Get a hanging shoe rack and start putting our shoes in it

5. Living room closet
(last time I did this, I found one of those grody bathroom rugs left over from previous tennants...nice)

Pull everything off shelves and sort into giveaway and keep piles
Be sure to put things back either in their boxes with labels or in a way that makes it easy to get to the item and whatever is behind/under it! (I hate trying to get something down only to have to go through 5 layers of junk that are on top of it!)
Utilize filing cabinet space for storage
Make the vacuum easier to access

If you have been counting, you know that's only 5. Number 6 is already finished. I did it last weekend before I knew about this, but had the two events reversed, I would have had this as #1: Clean out the pantry.

I can't tell you how many times I buy a bag of spaghetti at the store only to come home and realize I already had two! So I pulled everything off the shelves, cleaned the shelves, and then wrote down each and every single item in the pantry. Except for the too-big-pile of stuff that had expired. I just dumped it and resolved not to let so many non-perishable perish ever again. Each of my meals (dinners) this month must have at least one pantry item in it. The more the merrier, of course.

So, that's been January and I look into what I'm hoping for February. Please note: No flus, colds, or other illnesses or injuries are invited.

How 2011 is beginning in this little corner of the world

2011-01-04T17:30:00.000-05:00

Happy first post of 2011! I actually have not done any sewing since my last post, so I have nothing new on that front. To be honest, I may not for a while. I think I go through this every year, but I'm at that point where I just need to have a week or two (or three or four) in which I don't make anything. It's kind of strange considering how much I love sewing, but I've just come to accept it as part of the rhythm of my life. It comes and goes, and I enjoy other things in the mean time.

By other things, I mean reading, baking brownies not from a box, and focusing on everything I've been neglecting like my closets and budget.

I just finished Miss Hargreaves, a fantastic novel by Frank Baker. From the Amazon description:
When, on the spur of the moment, Norman Huntley and his friend Henry invent an eighty-three-year-old woman called Miss Hargreaves, they are inspired to post a letter to their new fictional friend. It is only meant to be a silly, harmless game—until Miss Hargreaves arrives on their doorstep. She is, to Norman’s utter disbelief, exactly as he had imagined her: enchanting, eccentric, and endlessly astounding. He hadn’t imagined, however, how much havoc an imaginary octogenarian could wreak on his sleepy Buckinghamshire hometown.

I'm currently reading a book that may kill many brain cells before building them up, but it's worth it: Scripture, Culture and Agriculture: An agrarian reading of the Bible by Ellen F. Davis. Last year I read Wendell Berry's latest collection of essays, Bringing it to the table: On farming and food, and Davis's book is taking the conversation several steps deeper into the agrarian worldview of the biblical authors and readers. It's very difficult for me to read, mainly because my own modern, Western worldview is so antithetical in many ways, but it is a challenge worth taking, and I have already been greatly encouraged through the reading.

And when I can't handle that, I switch back to a book I read 6 years ago and loved enough to read again. A passion for the impossible: The life of Lilias Trotter is a biography about a truly incredible woman who left the upper class life of Britain at the end of the 19th century to pursue a life in Algiers, North Africa. She spent her life loving the people of Algiers and the northern Sahara, and this is a beautiful retelling of her story.

Now that Brandon is finished with school, we are working on our plans for the coming year (nothing anywhere near concrete yet, so I will leave it at that). With those plans comes a need to go back over things like our budget (because we actually didn't have one until a few days ago), and I'm working on making that as simple as possible. One website that I've heard others talk about, that really may be as good as they say, is Mint.com. I've tried using other budgeting websites before but they've all been really ~~lame~~ impractical. This one seems to be different. It is really user-friendly and intuitive, and it's easy to customize everything to your own budgeting needs.

And of course those brownies. Sorry, no direct links. It's a recipe from The Joy of Cooking. If you don't own it, you should. It is one of three cookbooks that I actually use and has a wealth information beyond basic recipes.

I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of this new year -- and new decade!

Measurements for Window Frame Quilt Block

2010-12-30T10:21:00.000-05:00

The block I made for Mer's quilt was fairly simple once I worked out the measurements. I really like the "semi-framed" fussy cut dogs and thought it would be fun to see more blocks like this. I don't want to make a bunch more though, so I'm sharing the measurements with you hoping you'll show me what you've made with them!

All measurements are given in inches in the width x height format.
Seam allowance is a strict 1/4"
Finished size of the block is 12.5" x 12.5"

A 5.5" x 5.5" {cut 1}
B 5.5" x 1.5" {cut 2}
C 5.5" x 3" {cut 2}
D 1.5" x 12.5" {cut 2}
E 3" x 3" {cut 4}
F 3" x 5.5" {cut 2}
G 3" x 1.5" {cut 4}

I hope this helps some of you. If you use this, please let me know so I can see how you interpreted the design.

This is meant for personal use or for use by independent quilt sellers, but I ask that you give credit back to me for the block design.

If you have any questions, be sure to leave your email address with your comment or email me at irenedesign[at]ymail[dot]com so I can respond.

Happy Sewing!

Quilting Bee Blocks

2010-12-29T09:36:00.000-05:00

The Modern Stash Quilting Bee does not officially begin until January, but since I am a host this month I had to get my block finished prior to the beginning of the month. I have decided I want to do a Bento Box quilt for our living room (surprise, Hubby!). I really like the concept of everyone's blocks being mixed together in this way. I'm totally taking the idea to use white in every box as well to tie it all together.

One of the keys to this bee is that we are supposed to use fabrics we have on hand rather than buying new ones or having others send us the fabrics. I've really enjoyed that part of it and am planning to make at least one more box to use on the back of the quilt using these beauties.

Can you see a color theme at all yet? I hope so. I'm trying to go for a mix of 60/40 warm/cool colors. We have mainly warm and neutrals in our living room, but I really think it needs a pop of cool in there.

Before you get too impressed with me having all this together before January 1, I do need to say that our other January host, Mer, was way ahead of me. She's doing a yellow and gray frame improv quilt (see here). After reading her post I laid awake for several hours wondering what the heck I was going to do and whether I even had any yellow in my stash. I really should have spared myself and just gone to look, but instead I stayed up way too late thinking about it. It turns out I do have several shades of yellow, including a Heather Ross print that I cut into for those outside corners. All that laying awake worrying about it payed off though because I dreamed about the design for this block and ended up loving it when all was said and done. See?!

In other news, Beth got a sewing machine (same as mine!) and I am looking forward to sewing together. I also have some Parisville on the way (finally!!) and I gave Della her quilt for Christmas--which she loved! She likes to roll around on it as if to say "Mine!". It's pretty cute.

I am still here!

2010-12-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

I'm alive! We've all been sick or fighting off the germs so as not to get sick the last week or so.

The last four and a half years of our lives are culminating with my hubby's graduation this Friday (he will have a Masters of Divinity) and we have lots of family coming in town for the big event. It would be a gross understatement to simply say I am excited. It is so nice already to just be able to do normal things like go to the store together or watch TV without feeling like he should be reading or writing a paper. It is not only exciting, it is also a relief and a huge sense of accomplishment. We have spent our entire married life in seminary, so it's going to be quite a (wonderful) adjustment to not have that be in the picture.

The Modern Stash Quilting Bee is officially full, and I cannot tell you how excited I am about all of the talent that is represented in this group of 12 ladies. It's going to be a fun six months!! I'm thinking that I will do a Bento Box Quilt when it's my turn to host.

This is the first in four and a half years of marriage that I am doing Christmas cards. We enjoyed taking the pictures, but it was really difficult to choose which one to use. This is the one I wish I had used but didn't, so you all get to see it here. Also if you need cards of any type, Good Frau on Etsy is where we got ours. The service and quality are both really good!

So with all of that going on (especially the family in town and graduation events), you may not hear from me until next week. I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Sew and Tell: Christmas Napkins

2010-12-03T10:45:00.001-05:00

Remember on Monday when I showed you everything I finished last week? Well, I'm hoping this week is at least as productive. My goal is to have everything finished by Sunday so I can just enjoy a week with family and then sewing whatever the heck I want to over Christmas.

Now that my sewing room is so clean, it's much easier to get things done. I love just grabbing what I need from a bin or a drawer and not having to side step 5 other things or dig through a giant mess of scraps for that one little piece I know is in there somewhere!

Last night I finished a set of 8 Christmas napkins for Brandon's granny. We are celebrating early with them, so I thought she would like to have some new napkins to go with her new Christmas plates this year. I used a poinsettia print from Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas line, and I really love all the colors here. I wish I had bought some extra fabric to make some for us!

This weekend I want to finish my gift for the Peaceful Traditions gift exchange and a bag for my mom. Then it's time for some serious quilting! I have two in mind alread--one using a Bliss Charm pack and another using the Far Far Away II FQs I bought a month or so ago. Also, I need to decide which square I want to request for the Modern Stash Quilting Bee since I'll probably be one of the January hosts. (There are still a few spots left if you want to join!)

You all know that I've been linking to Amy's Sew & Tell for a few weeks now. There are some really talented sewists who link there as well. If you have a few minutes, check out some of the other links from this week and prepare to be impressed!

Irene Design

I finally get to tell you...

Embroidery Hoop Christmas Ornament

Winner!

New Wave Quilt and a clean machine

WIP Wednesday!

Scraptastic Giveaway

A {Mini} Quilt Image of My Life

On Quilts Large and Small

WIP Wednesday: Small Plates Quilt Top, etc.

My fabric stacks--and my to-do list--keep growing

Freshcut Pillow Case

A little peekaroo at the good blocks

Observing my own curfew wouldn't be such a bad idea

Pattern review: Kitchen windows quilt

100 Quilts for Kids Reader's Choice

Making earrings

WIP Wednesday New Fabric and Placemats

1 Quilt for 1 Boy

Freshcut by Heather Bailey is coming again!

WIP: Wonky Stars Quilt Top

Chloe's Quilt

Mod Sampler Quilt, Parisville Edition

New Fat Quarters

An introduction I've been eager to make

WIP Wednesday

Long Arm Love

Work in Progress Wednesday

Learning to use the Long Arm Machine

When inspiration hits, you have to run with it

I'm on Craft Gossip!

Work in Progress Wednesday: Baby Snuggler and Potholders

Modern Stash Quilting Bee: A Wrap Up

Make-up Brush Roll Sewing Tutorial

Sew and Tell Friday: Make-up Brush Roll and Quilt Block

Yes, I am taking on another project, and I'm OK with that.

Work in Progress Wednesday OR The Weekly Round Up

Amy Butler Sweet Harmony Tote: Reveal, Review, Modify

On sticking with your instincts

The Farmer's Wife Takes the World by Storm

Work in Progress Wednesday: Stitch Ripping and a Quilt Top in progress

W.I.P Wednesday: Kitchen Accessories!

MSQB: June Block for Sandi

MSQB: May Cathedral Windows Block

Book Review: The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais

Because if I don't write something, my last post will have been too long ago

Friday means sewing days are coming!

Etsy Finds

May MSQB Block 1 of 2: Johanna's block

April quilt block for Hilary

Sew and Tell Friday: Quilt Top and more plans

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

reflections on rest

Winners!!

Diaper bag sewing plans

Weekend rewind

Fabric Giveaway!

Living in reality = DESTASH

MSQB April Block 1: Wonky Star

Mod Mosaic Block Take Two (and another quilty tip)

Opposites Photography Class: Old and New

April Sewing Plans

Opposites: A *free* photogrpahy class

Triple Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes

Mod Mosaic Quilt Block

Kitchen Windows Quilt Preview {and a quilty tip}

Della wanted you to know...

Catching up is fun to do

Let's make a pact.

Mom's birthday bag & an announcement

Dress a Girl Around the World Reminder

Some major quilting inspiration

Fabric love (and a thank you)

Patchwork Square in a Square Quilting Bee Block

Dress a Girl Around the World Sew Along

Finished! Liberated Churn Dash Quilt Block

Sneak Peek: Liberated Churn Dash Block

New project idea: Placemats!

MSQB: Pinwheels

February shall be my organizing month.

Opposites: A free photogrpahy class