How does a week sneak up on one so fast? I have been a day behind all week, and nearly forgot that today was sew and tell. I had this in the works so i just got to sewing like crazy so that i could share this top with you all. I see a color trend in my life. The rooms in my house are blue and green...furniture...and the fabric colors i gravitate to are usually in the green and blue family somewhere. I wonder what a color says about someone?
My friend Deb, at Works in Progress, has been holding a charm square quilt a long. I was in!!!! What do you think Deb? She made a christmas charm quilt...so pretty. I really enjoy how diverse quilting can be and how different each persons quilt can be just because of the color and fabrics they use even when we use the same pattern.
I used a snippets charm pack and some other vintage reproduction fabrics that i had in my stash to get the total squares from 40 to 48...what Deb's pattern called for. I had to improvise in a lot of places on this one because i did not have enough of any one fabric, typical. I really really did not want to go to the store and buy more, so i just made do.
Today is sew and tell...good news Amylouwho is going to continue this through the summer with a little help...our motivation will carry on! Head on over and see all the other pretty's that are being shared. You are going to love everything. I am sure of it.
I did it!! I checked off another finish before the baby comes....this baby girl quilt(using Oh Fransson's pattern, inspired by Emily) turned out better than i had hoped.
I had the flimsy finished last week in time for sew and tell...however it took me a little longer to complete the rest of the steps...piecing the back, basting, quilting and binding. You know, all those things that make a bunch of fabric that you cut into tiny pieces a real quilt.
I even gave it the good old wash and dry. I was fighting with myself about this, as usual, but in the end i forced my own hand and it was just fine. Thank goodness for color catchers...i use them even when i probably don't need them, because it makes me feel better. I was worried that the nicey jane fabrics and the osnaburg would shrink differently, but they were surprisingly the same! Hooray!
I quilted it with my standard straight line method using my walking foot and some thread that i had stashed away for just the right project. I used a king tut brand variegated thread that had most of the colors in this quilt and just a hint of pink. This was my first time working with variegated thread and it looks really cool. I like it. I am not sure if you can see it in any of these pictures, you might just have to take my word for it.
Many thanks to my little quilt holder. I chose these pictures, above, because i loved the shadows of her in each shot.
** I wanted to quick share this with all my fellow sew and tellers at amylouwho's. It is finished!! Please look at everyone's projects from this week and give them a little comment love.**
Ahh, it feels so good to get some of the things done that have been in my WIP pile for the baby. My to do basket is almost looking, dare i say, empty!!!!
I have acquired several cute flannel prints from Joann's with the intentions of making lovey blankets. Some i have had in stash for a long time, like the baby food jars print. Lovies are our favorite and every one we have given as a gift has been favorites for the new families too!!! They are versatile and warm and just so cute! These were made with two flannel prints(i am loving the animals)...squared...sewn right sides facing...turned out and top stitched! Easy Peasy.
I thought the baby food print would be good for some burp clothes. You can never have too many with a little on, i think....and all the ones i had made for my other two have since worn out. New ones were in order. I cut these into 8 pieces and then used the same sewing method as the lovey blankets.
Oh, and last but not least the Katie Jump Rope Hooter Hider!!!! I love this print. I used the tutorial here to make it, as i have for all the others i have made. Pretty simple and straightforward...but with pregnancy brain i am afraid i did some incorrect measuring. I am not sure it turned out the way it was supposed to, but i will reserve my final judgment until there is baby to nurse under it.
i am so thankful for Amylouwho and the motivation she provides!!! I am joining in this week at sew and tell. There are so many great finishes, as usual. Go and have a look and give them a little comment love!
This has been one busy week!! I had family here from out of town. We got to go out and do lots of fun things together. Fun, but man my feet are tired!!! There was not a lot of sewing time to be had. But somehow i managed to squeeze in a little time for it. You know those moments when you just feel it, you know you need to make something.
I sat in my upstairs hall and basically dumped out all of my scraps on the floor around my sister and I searching for some that went together, so that i could make another mini quilt(see the first one here). This time a little larger but still mini!!! It measures somewhere between 4x6 and 5x7. There are a variety of fabrics in here...wonderland, wee play, flutterby, recess...and i included some selvage on it just to try it out. This is the first time i have used any selvage and i love it!
I assembled it randomly, hand cutting pieces and just sewing them wherever they fit. I quilted it this way too....just put it in the machine and hoped for the best. Needless to say this plan meant i had some unpicking to do! I was able to frame it in a shadowbox...held in with pretty pearl pins! Now it is hanging on the wall upstairs outside my bedroom where i can see it and enjoy it every time i walk through the door.
Today is sew and tell at Amylouwho's. Click the link on my sidebar or right here to go and see what everyone made this week. I bet there are a lot of beautiful springy projects. Have a wonderful Easter!
I know that this is a lot of pictures for one little thing, but bear with me!!
I have this friend that i have been telling i will make a 'hooter hider' for and i keep setting it aside and putting other projects ahead of it. All the things i need have been on my sewing table for ages, i was just procrastinating. Then today was Friday and there is something magically motivating for me about sew and tell. I somehow manage to get things done.
This was a fast easy thing to get done today(maybe an hour total) so i knew i could get it made and share it tonight plus it would get to my friend sooner. Now i just hope that she is nursing as much as she was since the baby is a bit bigger now and still wants it!!!
i have made one once before and the second time was definitely smoother. Thanks to Made by the Mama Monster for a fun easy to follow tutorial. Don't forget to go to Amylouwho's and see what everyone else made this week. I have gone and had a peek and there were tons of great things!!!!
It seems like an awful lot of our friends and neighbors are having babies... i figured it was good to be prepared. I should start stocking up!So my project for today's sew and tell was a baby lovey blanket! They are my favorite. I raided the stash and discovered that these two matched perfectly.
I generally don't go for any characters...unless it is Pooh. He is pretty cute! And it just so happens that Pooh is experiencing some blustery weather....
...and so was i! In the middle of taking the pictures my sweet baby lovey blew away on a gust of wind. Now it is going to go sit on a shelf and wait for the first new arrival!
You know what you should do...go over to Amylouwho's and see what all the other ladies made this week. I saw some really great things today that i want to try, like this and this and this.
about 2 weeks ago there was a big neighborhood yard sale. We are a pretty young neighborhood, but luckily some of the moms of the ladies who live here came and came with goodies!!! I found all of these vintage sheets and pillowcases all at one house. Pretty right?
Then this week i was blogging around, whilst hanging out with my couch, and i found this idea for a nightgown with a tutorial. I modified the tutorials a little and came up with this for Avery.
The bottom of the pillowcase with this scalloped detail is my favorite part. Those little raspberries on the fabric are so cute!
Sewing clothing is not my strong suit. With quilting i know all the steps to follow and what order to do them in...with clothes i get a little turned around , get stuck and then ask myself how am i supposed to do this? Since this is for sleeping i think it will do. The true test will be if she wears it for more than one night!!
**since this is the only significant sewing i have done in a really long while i am going to go ahead and link this up to this weeks edition of sew and tell at Amylouwho's. Say hello to all the ladies who made something wonderful this week**
I am so excited to share Sage's quilt top that I finished! I used this tutorialfrom Cluck cluck Sew.Sage picked out all the fabrics herself from my stash. I love how it turned out! Now I have to get working on the back, and I think I am going to pay to have this one quilted, I'm not sure if I want to tackle a quilt this big.
By the way, my neighbor's probably thought I was strange, to get this picture (before it started to rain yesterday) I laid it out on the grass in front of our house and climbed up on the porch railing :)
I also wanted to share a Christmas present that I started last night because I am just dying over how stinkin awesome it is going to be. I am making lap quilts for my 3 girls, out of my very favoritest vintage linens, I am talking the vintage linens that I have been collecting for years now and not had the guts to cut into. I am cutting 6 1/2 inch squares and each quilt is going to have 16 different yummy prints in it, in each girl's favorite colors. This one is for the blue and purple loving Kinsley.
I was SEW close to my Friday finish. I was determined that i would get it done. I have been working on it all day. Note to self, if you want to finish a whole quilting project....start before the day you plan to finish. Then there is a better chance of finishing. So ladies, can i count getting all the quilting done as my finish?
I sure hope so...i started basting this morning and had just enough spray baste to get it all done. Thank goodness. Avery declared that it would have been a disaster if i had run out! Then i had a marathon quilting day...all my free time has gone into getting this quilted. My back and my arms are killing me! But, best part of this project is that it is one i get to keep, for myself. I plan on having it in my living room to cozy up under on cool nights.Preferably with my warm hubby!
I hope that tomorrow i will have a updated picture to include a finished binding. I am loving sew and tell it is really keeping me motivated to get old projects done. Go on over to Amy's and see what everyone else got done this week. There is lots of great stuff.
You can never really know what is going on in the lives of the people around you, can you? The struggles others go through behind closed doors are often unknown to the people around them. I live in a very small community and had the privilege of lending a hand and a little comfort to someone that needed it. In turn she gave me inspiration.
She is such an amazing woman, fighting breast cancer and being all the things all women wish to be. Strong, beautiful, inspiring. She is always cheerful and happy in spite of everything. Her love for and relationship with God shines through her.
When i first heard what she was going through i kept asking myself what could i do? how can i help her? My skill set is quilting...so, I presented our homeschool group with the idea to make this quilt for her and was pleased that they wanted to take part and participate by writing personal messages to her. I just pray that they do not fade or wash away...i wanted to have the chance to wash it first to see if there were going to be any great catastrophes but i ran out of time. Pray!! pray hard.
I could not bring myself to quilt through any of the personal messages so i just outlined each box in pink. Then i spent what felt like forever straight line quilting, of random sizes, the rest of the quilt. It looks beautiful but was a lot more time and work than i anticipated.
I also wanted to hand stitch in some things that would be personal to her so i did a pink on pink breast cancer ribbon...a purple on purple cross...and the names of her husband and children, so that they would be with her when she used this quilt no matter when or where. I had not originally intended to make it pink but it turned out that they were her favorite colors. What a perfect coincidence.
She in turn gave me a gift...the gift of gratitude and appreciation(and a few tears) which really meant a lot to me. It is hard to know what people really think when you make something like this and then mail it away...and kids don't necessarily love getting a blanket.
This is ironically Breast Cancer Awareness month. What a perfect time to honor her fight by bringing her this quilt. If someone around you opens that door a little and lets you in consider it a privilege to do what you can....what seems so small and insignificant can mean so much to someone that is struggling. I know you don't know her but if you think of her take a minute and say a little prayer, every single one counts!
I am linking this up to Fabric Tuesday this week, as well as Amylouwho's for sew and tell. Got to Amylouwho's and see what everyone else has made and leave a little comment behind so they know you were there.
You can never really know what is going on in the lives of the people around you, can you? The struggles others go through behind closed doors are often unknown to the people around them. I live in a very small community and had the privilege of lending a hand and a little comfort to someone that needed it. In turn she gave me inspiration.
She is such an amazing woman, fighting breast cancer and being all the things all women wish to be. Strong, beautiful, inspiring. She is always cheerful and happy in spite of everything. Her love for and relationship with God shines through her.
When i first heard what she was going through i kept asking myself what could i do? how can i help her? My skill set is quilting... so, I presented our homeschool group with the idea to make this quilt for her and was pleased that they wanted to take part and participate by writing personal messages to her. I just pray that they do not fade or wash away... i wanted to have the chance to wash it first to see if there were going to be any great catastrophes but i ran out of time. Pray!! pray hard.
I could not bring myself to quilt through any of the personal messages so i just outlined each box in pink. Then i spent what felt like forever straight line quilting, of random sizes, the rest of the quilt. It looks beautiful but was a lot more time and work than i anticipated.
I also wanted to hand stitch in some things that would be personal to her so i did a pink on pink breast cancer ribbon... a purple on purple cross... and the names of her husband and children, so that they would be with her when she used this quilt no matter when or where. I had not originally intended to make it pink but it turned out that they were her favorite colors. What a perfect coincidence.
She in turn gave me a gift... the gift of gratitude and appreciation (and a few tears) which really meant a lot to me. It is hard to know what people really think when you make something like this and then mail it away...and kids don't necessarily love getting a blanket.
This is ironically Breast Cancer Awareness month. What a perfect time to honor her fight by bringing her this quilt. If someone around you opens that door a little and lets you in consider it a privilege to do what you can....what seems so small and insignificant can mean so much to someone that is struggling. I know you don't know her but if you think of her take a minute and say a little prayer, every single one counts!
I am linking this up to Fabric Tuesday this week, as well as Amylouwho's for sew and tell. Got to Amylouwho's and see what everyone else has made and leave a little comment behind so they know you were there.
Amy at Amylouwho is hosting sew and tell again. This week i wanted to finish something that had been sitting around in my sewing closet for months. It was a quilt-a-long that i joined back in June and never finished. oops! I did not finish it the way it was meant to be either but then it would never have been done for sure. Do you see what it is?
It's the panda quilt! I decided on a white border and black trim. I love the contrast. I have not worked with black and white before but i am sure to do it again. It really looks like a picture frame for the panda. Avery was very pleased with the result as it will be hanging in her room. I have to thank Emily at So Much For My Plans for the quilting idea. She makes cute little baby mats with this kind of quilting. It is genius!
Go join in the fun if you have something you have been meaning to finish. Or just go and check out everyone's finishes.
This was my submission for the So You Think Your Crafty Auditions. I didn't make the top ten so I won't be going on (I think I was 12). It was fun seeing all the other fun projects and finding new to me blogs! There was alot of fun projects submitted and I am excited to see what season 3 brings. Anyways, I took pictures while I was making it so here is a tutorial!
Here is what you will need:
scraps of fabric, doilies, trim, really you could use anything that could be sewn down and would look cute.
You will also need two pieces of your main fabric (I used a cream colored Kona cotton) and a piece of batting (I used warm and natural batting)
I cut my pieces about 37" by 13" but you can make any size you want.
Once you have your two main fabric pieces and your batting cut, lay them down in this order: batting first, then your two main fabrics on top of that right sides together.
Then pin all your layers together so you can sew them together without them shifting. ( I know this part isn't fun, I hate pinning and avoid it unless I have to).
Then starting somewhere in the middle of a side, sew around the whole thing using a 1/4 inch seam, except you need to leave about a 3 or 4 inch hole so that you can turn it right side out.
like this
Once you have sewn around the whole thing, clip the extra corner fabric tips off to make it easier to turn the corners out.
Then turn it right side out, I like to use a plastic chopstick I found at IKEA to help with the corners.
Once you get it right side out, take it to your ironing board and iron the whole thing, taking care to pay attention to that hole you left for turning and ironing that part in so you won't be able to tell where it was.
Then, sew around the edge, again pay attention to the part where the hole was to make sure you get it sewn shut.
After I got that done I added pom pom trim to both my ends. (sorry for the picture quality, it started getting dark when i made this and I am too lazy to edit the pictures right now). After that I just layed down my bits of handkerchief and doilies down and then cut pieces of fabric to fit in the spaces that were left. I hope that makes sense.
Then I pinned them all down.
Now, take it to your sewing machine and sew all those bits down, (I left the edges of all my fabrics raw by the way, once it goes through the wash they will get a yummy frayed edge) I rolled the one end up so it would fit nicely in my sewing machine. Just be careful of the pins so you don't get poked ( I didn't get poked at all ) :)
And here's a tip, when I got one piece all sewed down, I didn't cut the thread, I just picked up the presser foot and moved over to another piece. Can you see the threads in the picture? Then after I got all the pieces sewn down I clipped all the threads.
Then I added bits of embroidery wherever I felt like it.
Then you are done and you have a happy table runner!
Tonight was the big Amy Butler challenge over at sew and tell with Amylouwho. I had ideas floating around in my head but never got around to making anything this month until tonight. I decided it was time to make one of those mug rugs i have seen floating around blogland. I used some Daisy Chain and a little Osnaburg, and in record time. Talk about under the wire i just finished at 11:45 pm. I love it, just big enough for a mug and a snack!!!
**go see what everyone else made, you will love it. there are so many amazing things this week**
Amy at Amylouwho is having a sew and tell this week for projects you needed to get finished...a little motivation. I needed to get this one finished!! My trusty project holder was on hand to help with picture taking. I had originally wanted to stipple this but was so frustrated that half way through the stippling i tore it all out and went for straight line quilting instead. Good call!
This is the improv piece i began making after i received a package of scraps from Heather. I am so thrilled with how it turned out. Making something like this was new for me, but it helped me to see that sometimes just going for it and not thinking too much can make something really fun and unexpected.
It is hanging in my living room by the tv cabinet....covering up one of our unsightly light switches. What a relief to finish.
I'm joining in on Amy's sew and tellthis week! I am always sewing something :)
Here are some of the things I have been working on this week. Above are some Bird Cage Christmas ornaments, I love these, I made some for myself last year. The backs of them are vintage linens, and besides the cream fronts, the fabric for these came out of my scrap bag, which I love, I need to use up those scraps!
I have been slowly working on a quilt for my youngest Sage. I had my kids pick out their fabrics from my stash months and months ago for their new quilts. I feel bad it has taken me this long, but what do you do? I especially feel bad because Sage (who is 5) has never had a bed sized quilt of her own. What kind of a Mom am I? :) Stay tuned for the finished quilt though, I love, love all the fabrics each of my girls picked out, they are going to be so cute.
I also finished a batch of girls purses. That mushroom one is my fave. I am getting ready for all my holiday shows coming up. They start up next weekend!
I decided to jump in on amylouwho's sew and tellthis week. I finished this bag up last night as a present for someone. I can't say who because I haven't given it to them yet. It is made from a yummy blue linen fabric, and then I appliqued a thrifted doily on the front. I love it, and I think I am in need of one now.
I also finished up these string pieced blocks for Sarah for a Notion or Two. I love the way these turned out, I think it is going to make an awesome quilt. They were fun to make too, I used this tutorial from Film in the Fridge.
A friend of mine just had a baby...and what better gift is there than a quilt for said sweet baby!
I pulled out some reproduction fabric that i had...it all came in a cute little bundle from Joanns. It took me some time to settle on a layout because i did not have quite enough to make the around the world pattern totally square. So i opted to lengthen it a little and add some aunt grace to the sides to make it a little wider.
It came together quickly, and so far i have been able to keep my new years goal of doing a quilt from start to finish, no more tops lying around in WIP piles. Now of course that does not apply to the ones i have started in the past, just the ones i have started since the new year began.
Simple straight line quilting, slightly random, not really a pattern...just enough to be sure that it is securely quilted. It was such a pain to quilt...more than usual. Why? Because i now officially HATE spray baste. This one was so unusually painful and the spray baste was giving me so many problems....and because it was a small quilt the stiffness of the 505 spray made it so unruly and hard to get through the machine. 505, we are over...officially we are broken up. Pins...it is you and me from now on!!!
this will be over on Amylouwho's...have a look at all the pretty things everyone else has made this week and tell them how much you love them...comments mean a lot!!
When i got home from my sisters this week i was feeling especially motivated to get some sewing done. Perhaps the old adage, "absence makes the heart grow fonder", applies to my sewing machine too! I went right to work finishing this baby blanket i had started with a honey bun of Hello Betty fabric.
i considered all sorts of ideas for how i would quilt it but in the end i just went with my old standby... straight line quilting. It is fast and rather uncomplicated. Every row of stitching is about 2 inches apart. I got the binding on and sewn last night and this morning, my favorite part. It is a baby gift for a neighbor, so i hope she will like it.
I did not want to buy more fabric to back it and bind it so i went to the trusty stash closet to see what i could find, and that closet sure did not let me down. I, at some point or another, had bought a baby curtain on clearance in the hope that someday i would be able to use it for backing since it was so big. And that is precisely what i did. These elephants were just too cute to resist and i love them with the fabric of the quilt.
Now this last shot is just to show that i am already working on other things...trying to be real with myself about the projects i have started and seeing if i can just go ahead and finish them from where they are. Sometimes i think i am too ambitious with what i want to do....so i start a lot of things but don't really get many them finished. Craft ADD anyone?
**It is time for me to get back on the sew and tell wagon. So i am going to go ahead and link this up to amylouwho's to share with the ladies there. take a minute and go check out what everyone else has made this week. I don't know about anyone else but i feel productive, finally.**
When i was contemplating what would be my finish for this week it started out really ambitious(basting, quilting and binding), and then when i looked at my calendar and saw how much i had planned outside the house for this week and how busy i was going to be i thought maybe it was high time i got realistic! SO these booties were my finish. A small project but one that i really wanted to do.A friend from my husbands work just had a little girl...i wanted to bring her some food and a gift and these were it. This is the second pair i have done(the first are here), and they work up really fast and easy, and the combination's are endless. I love that they are reversible!!! i found this pattern here. They are so much smaller than you think they are going to be when you look at the pattern pieces, but they are just too cute to resist. SO go on over to Amy's and see what everyone else got done this week, and share something you did!!!
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