The Great Fabric Destash of 2012

Hey Folks! I'm alive. Really! I have been all kinds of crafty lately--including finishing my biggest quilt yet--and I actually have solid plans to tell you all about it. First though I have to tell you about something that I thought would take me just a couple of hours. Instead this has been a couple of weeks in the making. It's the Great Fabric Destash of 2012. {free tip: there's a discount code below}

I had so much fun putting together these fabric packs. They are {almost} all fat quarters, and all are from my stash. I've had so many great ideas in the past couple of years but so little time to actually follow through, so I am destashing some of these. There is some yardage as well as a few out of print knits.

They are all listed in my Etsy shop, Irene Design {It's a long story why they are not in my destash shop if you remember those days...} I've priced them all below the normal FQ price for fabric, and they are all new, unwashed cuts from my pet-free, smoke-free, but not child-free home.

In addition to the destash price, I would love for you all to be able to get your hands on some of these beauties, so if you use the discount code destash2012 you will get 10% off your order prior to shipping. {be sure to convo me for a custom listing if you want more than one set.} The discount code will be valid through October 1, 2012.

Finally, if you have a blog or any other social media platform, I would love for you to spread the word. There is lots of great fabric {did I mention the fabulous prices?}.

And just so you know I'm not totally bluffing, here is a preview of that my most recent big finish...

The ElnaSuper

I have a new addition in my home--at least temporarily. My in-laws were visiting over Memorial Day weekend and my mother in law brought her grandmother's old sewing machine for me to use. 

When she lifted the metal case to the table and brought out this little beauty I was a bit intimidated to use it.  I have a cheap Brother that works surprisingly well given what I paid and how much I have used the machine.  It's plastic and I'm not afraid of pushing it's limits.  This on on the other hand is made of metal from the bobbin case to the machine case, and if I break it, I'm breaking a piece of family history!

Apparently I have pushed my machine to at least one of its limits because my bobbin winder broke.  Of course I ran out of bobbin thread somewhere around 130 out of 150 napkins that had to be finished before my in laws headed home.  So we used the ElnaSuper to finish the job and she sews beautifully! {Of course. What was I thinking?}  It was so easy to use--no skipped stitches or broken threads. This is no frail old woman; she is still quite super. I'm not sure I'm ready to try any free motion quilting on the machine just yet {although the throat space is magnificent!} but I think I'll use it for piecing together the Garden Fence quilt top.

The machine comes with all kinds of discs for different stitches. I am sure I'll find a good use for these little ducks soon!

In case you're wondering how old the machine is, here is a picture from the manual. Of course a real lady never reveals her age so I'll leave you marveling at how young she still looks.


 

Handstitching and Catching Up

Question: What do you do when you take care of a toddler and a baby during the day, work a few hours a week on odd jobs, have two big sewing projects to complete and still have 5 minutes of free time left over?!
Answer: You sign up for a class to learn how to do something you have wanted to do for a long time!

 
We don't need to go into the insanity that is my life. It's just an established fact. Sewing brings some form of peace to it all for me. So, I am taking the Handstitched Class being offered by Rachel at Stitched in Color! I got my student kit today and am happy just looking at these colors. {Of course, I'll be even happier knowing what to actually do with all that!}

I've been really busy sewing up 150 napkins for a wedding and am so close to having those finished. That's taken up most of my sewing time, but I'm finally getting a new routine down that includes some sewing time.  I even took some pictures to share with you on how to simplify things when sewing 150 napkins.

There is also a new quilt in the works.  A friend's mom has asked me to make one for her! I've been wanting to use the Garden Fence pattern for a while and am so glad she chose it out of all the patterns and ideas I presented. More on that when I decide whether to stick with the Crosshatch fabric I ordered or spring for some Summersville to add to the stack!

So in Arizona we don't do the whole Daylight Savings Time thing which means the sun is up before my alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. and unfortunately that means my daughters are up extra early now too. The good news? Extra long naps! But I can hear them waking up, so Happy Memorial Day Weekend to my U.S. friends!

 

WIP Wednesday: Granny Squares Quilt

When Jolene first showed her Granny Squares Block, I knew I wanted to make one, so when she posted her Granny Squares Quilt Block Tutorial, I had my fabric picked out within the hour!  Two weeks later, I cut the squares, and now more than a month later, my quilt top is finished and basted to a beautiful piece from the Hunky Dory Line I've been hoarding for the last few years.  I went a little smaller with mine {3 blocks across and 4 blocks down}, and this is going to be a gift for a friend of mine.

{If you haven't heard yet, this quilt design is all over the place right now. Want to see more? Check out some of the Scrap Attack photos on Flickr!}

All of the fabrics are from my stash, including the sashing. It's my new favorite, and of course I've only found it at one store. {Adornit's Pink Dazzled in Subtle Tan, originally purchased from Fabricworm and now seems to have dropped off the map :/ }  The color inspiration is from Josephine Kimberling's Just Dandy line...I won the FQ set on Fat Quarterly last year!

WIPs:
Granny Squares Quilt: Needs quilting and binding {no clue on the binding yet}

To Do:
Easter Dresses for the girls
Start Krista's quilt

Finishes:
New pillow cover for Della
Seat cover for Della's chair

A little post card from Arizona

Hello from super-sunny Arizona!  No really. We have had one "cloudy" day since we moved here. It is a-maz-ing.

After packing our entire house in less than two weeks, saying Goodbye to way-too-many friends, giving away quite a bit of my sewing stuff because it just wouldn't fit, driving 2,000 miles, moving into a beautiful new home, and getting settled in to a wonderful new city with an amazing new church family, I am finally breathing long enough to stop and say, "HI! I am still here."

The last two months have overflowed with transition and change, but I have a found a few minutes here and there to do some sewing (and a lot more think about it)!

Jolene's Granny Square quilt had me from the first glance, and I now have all my squares cut out and am slowing getting them sewn together.  This one lends itself perfectly to my schedule because even if I just have 15 minutes, I can get a few rows sewn together.  {I'm lucky if I get 15 though!}

I won some Echo fabric from Fresh Squeezed Fabric, and this is even more beautiful in person than all the photos I have seen.  I'm still trying to convince my hubby that we need to recover our {new} dining room chairs in this print :) I did sew up some placemat tops with this fabric, but because I got rid of quite a bit of my supplies when I moved, I'm still trying to bring myself to go buy some more batting so I can finish these up.  Until then, our table will just stay dirty. {mostly kidding!}

Most of what I have been doing though is laying out stacks of fabric for the projects I think I am going to do, only to distracted by one cute baby and a beautiful toddler. My biggest transition in this move has been staying home with them, and I love it. It is challenging, but I have been able to get to know my girls more than I ever did when I was working.  Sometimes it is a little mundane (like when I'm making peanut butter and honey sandwiches for the umpteenth day in a row), but I love honey, and it brings joy to my red head, so it's all worth it!

I finally get to tell you...

...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

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.