WIP Wednesday {5.30.12}

I'm back! And slowly easing myself back into life. Vacation was wonderful and so relaxing, but I am so happy to be back home with my baby girl. I came back feeling quite refreshed, but ready to sew. I missed it! So although I haven't finished everything, I have started working on some things and it feels good.

New:

Toddler Swoon Quilt

I couldn't wait to get started on this! I have one block done and everything cut out for the rest and I am loving it. I am addicted.  I don't know when we will be making the switch to the toddler bed, but hopefully I will have this ready.

Skill Builder - block 33
It is posted but I haven't actually started it yet. I am just planning in my head and figuring out the colors.

ipad case
I promised to make one for a friend. I have fabric and I think I know which pattern I am going to use, so I just need to get to it.


Dresden toddler quilt

Fabrics are all ready to go, I need a background, but I am ready to cut I think. It needs to be done in about a month so I need to get on this one. Hm, I didn't realize how soon this has to be done until I typed that....

Waiting:

*circus baby quilt
*wedding quilt {just ideas circulating....}

Yeah, so I just jumped right back in. It was so good not having any lingering projects though, it was a great feeling to start fresh. I know I have other things I should be doing, but I can't stop swoon blocks right now. They are making me so happy and relaxed, so I think I'll keep working on them until I get sick of them. I'm just taking it day by day and vowing not to stress myself out over it, and doing what I want to be doing. Lazy days of summer I think :) And that's all I've got for today. Now to go look at pretty things and catch up on some blog reading....

Hello from paradise

triangles, lots of triangles

So as you may have noticed on Wednesday, 1. I am not actually here, I am probably sitting on an airplane for close to forever and 2. I am finished my scrappy triangles quilt!

I am not exaggerating when I say that I hated every. step. of. this. quilt. I hated cutting all those stupid things, I hated sewing them together and trying to get them all lined up, I hated trying to arrange them...you get the idea, I really didn't like any part of this process. BUT, I am glad I pushed through it and have this lovely quilt to show for it. I absolutely love the finished product and I think it will be a perfect picnic quilt. It finished at about 72" square and as I mentioned last week, contains 828 triangles.

I decided to try turning the quilt because I had been wanting to for a while and it seemed picnicy somehow. It saved me the trouble of binding, but it wasn't exactly easy to get it sewn around the edges since it is pretty big. I thought about tying it, but ended up quilting little circles where the triangles meet roughly every 8-10". It holds it down but keeps it softer. The back is an old sheet that I had laying around. I don't love it but I think it's perfect for this. I should have found a vinyl table cloth or something but I already had this, so there you go.

Can you believe this is finished quilt #9 for me this year?!?! I've gone crazy! To be fair one was almost done last year and another was at least started before the new year. But still! I think I have a couple more that have deadlines coming up but after that I think I get to slow down a bit. If that is possible for me.

Anyway, with that I leave blogland for the next week or so. Hopefully I will be back refreshed and renewed, but most likely sunburned and tired :)

WIP Wednesday {5.16.12}

Well, this is my last wip post before vacation next week and who knows if I'll be recovered to post on the week after. I am happy to report that this week is mostly finishes. I managed to get everything on my list done so that I can move on to my waiting list when I return. It has been such a busy week and now I need to pack and pack and pack while getting my toddler ready to be abandoned for a week. Having never been away from her for more than 8 hours, I am understandably a bit nervous, but I think it will be okay. I have been channeling all my nervous excitement into my sewing and it was very productive.

Completed:

Scrappy Triangles

I must admit that I hated every step of the way, but I love the end result. Now the weather just needs to be nice enough for a picnic. I will hopefully post better pictures and more info on Friday.

Skill Builder blocks 31 & 32

Cactus Flower was inset seams and Hexagon flower was english paper piecing. I didn't love either of them but they look nice now that they are done.

Toddler Dress

It's more of a tunic really. I finally sucked it up and did it. And it is really cute but a bit big for now, so hopefully she'll grow into it.

Beach Bag

This was simple and quick and I love it. Perfect to crumple up in my suitcase and bring to the beach.

Curvy Clutch

I found the pieces all cut out for this in a pile and figured I should just do it before it got lost again. I love how it turned out.

Zip Clutch

This is my favorite little zip pouch in the history of ever I think. I had this all ready too, and just sewed it up yesterday.


New:

Technically I did not cut into anything new. I may have piles of fabric sitting around waiting for me to play, but I did not technically start anything

Waiting: {next up!}

*dresden toddler quilt {I just need a background}
*toddler swoon quilt {All fabric ordered and should be here by the end of the week. Will start cutting as soon as I get back}
*circus baby quilt {Designed, I just need to finish working out measurements, pick a few more fabrics and get going}

So there you go. It was really a crazy week, but it feels so good to have things pretty much wrapped up before vacation. I can't wait to come home and get started on these quilts that have been taunting me for weeks.  Today is haircut and packing day, tomorrow I get my sister all settled and help her figure out what is going on and Friday we are off on a grand adventure! I'll get my scrappy triangle quilt up on Friday and after that you probably won't hear much from me for a while. Maybe I'll stop by with a pretty picture or two :) Have a great couple of weeks!

So close...

Yet still so much to do. How was your weekend? We had a very nice time around here. Beautiful weather always helps. And despite the fact that my mother's day started way too early thanks to a certain little love of mine, it was a good day. In fact, the hubby and child took me out and picked out some fabric for me

I have been plugging away at all the things I want to get done in the next few days. I am so close to finished each of them, but just not quite there yet. I am almost done my triangle quilt, my beach bag, and my skill builder blocks. And I have two clutches that I found that have been cut out for ages and need to be put together. I think I can do all that in the next few days. I guess we'll see. I can't believe it is so close to our vacation. I think I am entering panic mode :) But I am so excited. I think I have 3 days left to sew everything I have left. And when I come back, I start with the toddler swoon. It turns out we will be needing it sooner rather than later since my little lady figured out how to climb out of her crib last week. So far we haven't had a repeat performance, but I need to get that ready for the toddler bed transition.

 And that's about all that's going on here. Hopefully by Wednesday I'll have most of this done to show you!

828 triangles later...

My husband is the best! Yesterday he decided to bring the little one to a meeting with him so I could have some free time :) And thanks to that, I pushed through and finished my scrappy triangle top! I am so glad it is finished and I love it so much now that I am done sewing all those stinking triangles. Hopefully I will finish it in a few days after I go get some batting. For now, I need to do some skill builder blocks and maybe make a little girl a dress. Anyway, here is a peak at my quilt top

It is just begging for a picnic when it is finished! Have a great weekend and happy mother's day to all the mamas :)

WIP Wednesday {5.9.12}

Wednesday again? I can't believe it's been a week already! I am totally dragging this week and things are taking much longer than I feel like they should. That's alright though, I'm not too worried about it. I will just keep plugging away and hope it gets done in the next week.

Completed:


Cosmic Burst QAL

I finished this one and I love it. Such a happy little quilt and a great QAL.

New:

Beach tote
I want something huge but flexible that I can stuff in my suitcase and not take up too much space, but fit everything to bring to the beach with me. I have fabric picked out, I just need something for straps.

Still Going:

Scrappy Triangles

 Serious progress is being made. This is one row over half of the triangles, and the top 4 rows are already sewn together. I decided to go for a roughly 72" square blanket which means I will be using 828 triangles. I wish I was done, but I am getting there. This is pretty much all I've been working on and it is just taking forever. I am happy to say that I really love how it is looking so far, so that keeps me going even though I am starting to hate these little things.

Skill Builder blocks
I am a block behind now, but I think I'll wait for the next one and do both this weekend. 


Toddler Dress #2
Yep, didn't touch it.

Waiting:

*dresden toddler quilt
*toddler swoon quilt
*circus baby quilt


The list actually feels pretty small to me. I don't know if I'll get it all done in the next week, but that is what I'm aiming for. That way I can start on my waiting list after vacation. I have the rest of the triangles all sorted into rows so it should go a bit quicker now and I will hopefully get the top done in the next few days. We'll see. And maybe we'll be lucky and the sun will come out one of these days. I miss the sun. And now, back to sewing triangles. Forever.

Cosmic Burst

Hey guys! I finally found some time to sit down and post. It was a little crazy this weekend and I am just beat. Still. Good thing vacation is coming up! It was a fun weekend though, with a full house of guests. I didn't get to sew much, but I did manage to finish the binding up on my Cosmic Burst quilt.

This quilt-along started a couple of weeks ago over at Distant Pickles. I tried not to get sucked in, but I couldn't help myself. Aside from the back/binding, I only used fabrics I had on hand. I had to place the fabrics based on the amounts I had. I only had fat quarters of each of the solids so there weren't too many places they could go. And I didn't have enough of any coordinating solid to use for the background so I used the larger floral print. I really like the way it turned out though. It is so springy and calming. I was a bit worried about the two floral fabrics blending together, but I think with the help of the quilting, they are working just fine together.

The back is a stripe from Joann's; to make it a bit more interesting, I cut squares and rotated them. Also, it saved me from having to line up the stripes at the seam :) The binding is a gray houndstooth that I love. I think it frames it beautifully and the gray is just the right touch to go with all the blue/yellow/green. I did very minimal quilting on this one. I had wanted to follow Julie's lead and just quilt in the backgrounds, but I had to tweak it a little so that I had some quilting in the center square. So I started with a giant X and the traced the burst shapes around. It got a little weird in some spots since I was actually echoing the seams and not stitching in the ditch, but I didn't think about that until I was already on my way so I just made the best of it.

Anyway, I really like this and how it ended up. Definitely a fun pattern and if you are looking for a fairly small quilt (this one is 50" although she also has directions for a 70" too), I definitely recommend this one. Of course I don't actually know what I am going to do with this one, but that's okay.

Yeah, so now it is back to sewing triangles for me! I really want at least this top done in the next....10 days. So I need to get busy on that....I can't wait until I am done these little suckers. I'll be back tomorrow with the wip list!

An awesome tote/purse

Happy Friday! I am so happy the weekend is here. I am slowly trucking away at all my projects in the hopes that I can get them done in the next 2 weeks. Did I mention that 2 weeks from now I will be on a plane headed somewhere beautiful and relaxing? I. Can't. Wait. Even though I am still a bit nervous about leaving my little love bug for a week....

Anyway, as I mentioned on Wednesday, I am finished my purse that I made to bring with me. I love it so, so much. It all started, like most things, on pinterest. I saw this.

Source: etsy.com via Cassie on Pinterest

And I fell in love. So much in love that I briefly considered buying it instead of making it, but in the end, there were enough small things I wanted to change that I decided just to do it myself. It is really close to that bag though. The dimensions of mine ended up about 12"x12"x4.5" and it seems like it will be the perfect size for my "pursey" things plus some things to read/eat and whatnot. I added a pocket on the back and inside there is one big pocket and one smaller pocket. I used pretty much the same purple fabric for the exterior and used a gray floral print for the lining.

In place of the feathers, I did a reverse applique flower on the front and I love it. It was my first time trying it, and it went really well. I used fusible fleece (thermolam or something actually) as the interfacing since it is light and sturdy without being too stiff. I love all the handle options for holding it as a tote, over the shoulder with the strap shortened or lengthening the strap to go across the body. I think that will be super handy for traveling. It was my first time using the rectangular rings/slider rings for the straps and it was easier than I thought it would be. I mean I guess we'll see how it holds up and that will tell us how well I sewed them in there, but it looks nice and professional and that's all that matters, right?

I think this weekend I might have to pack everything up and see if it all fits in my bags. I am aiming not to check any luggage so I need to see if everything can fit into my carry on.....we'll see how that goes. I think this weekend my parents are coming to visit so not so much sewing will be going on, but it should be a good time. And it's okay, I am mostly avoiding triangles at this point. You would think I could just give up on this quilt since I clearly don't want to make it, but it will be so cool if I can push through and make it.....have a lovely weekend!!

WIP Wednesday {5.2.12}

You guys, is it really May already?? Unbelievable! Of course we have a bit of a cold going around the house right now so things are kind of in slow motion, but hopefully we'll be past it soon. It does have me a bit zapped for energy though, so I've been taking it easy the past couple of days. Today I hope to jump back in and work on a few things though!

Completed:

Granny Squares Quilt

It is finished, all washed and crinkly, and I love it. I am so happy with how it turned out :)

Travel Purse

I will do a full post on Friday for this, but let me just say that it came out exactly how I planned and I love it! I can't wait to use it. I am thinking it needs a test run....

Clutch

I got tired of sewing triangles (it doesn't take long) so I whipped this up the other afternoon. I had been looking for something to use this lovely fabric for and I think it's perfect. I actually might go do some top stitching around the top band, but I haven't decided yet. 

Still Going:


Cosmic Burst

 Top done! I am hoping to put the back together and baste it today so I an get quilting. I haven't decided how I feel about it yet, I am withholding judgement until it is quilted. It feels a little muddled, but I think quilting might help with that. We'll see. 


Scrappy Triangles

I finally started! And it is going to take over 900 triangles to make the generous picnic size that I want.  I might make it a touch smaller, I don't know yet. But I have 4 rows done so I have at least got a good start.

Toddler Dress #2
Maybe I'll go ahead and make this some time this week or next (while I am avoiding triangles) just so I can cross it off my stupid list. I knew I put it here for a reason!

Waiting:

*dresden toddler quilt
*toddler swoon quilt
*circus baby quilt

I have high hopes for myself for the next couple of weeks before we go on vacation, but I think I'll be able to get it done.  I think we might have company this weekend though, so that might make it a bit more difficult. Anyway, that's what I've been up to. Now to go see what everyone else has been up to....