When life kicks your behind...

Well, this week has not gone at all the way I imagined. I received some terribly bad news the other day. And while I am not going to go into it, there is a lot of physical and emotional healing that needs to happen. And so, blogging is on hold. Sewing is on hold for that matter.

I hope that in a few days I'll feel a bit more back to normal and sewing will become my therapy again, but at the moment it leaves the mind a bit too blank and lets too many things creep in. Time, it just all takes time. I even have things to show, things that I really intended to photograph and post for Wednesday. But I guess we'll see. I am hoping for this coming Wednesday though.

Not that I want anyone to worry about me. Really, I'm okay. Things suck, but I'm okay. We're okay and we will be okay. I know everything is for the best, but that doesn't make it much easier.  I just wanted to say that I might be a bit more MIA for a while. And just when I was getting back into the swing of things too....Anyway, I need to get back to not staring at my computer screen for now. I'll be back when I can and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. Thank you for reading <3

Swooning Again

Happy Monday everyone! As promised, I have a finished quilt to share. The binding went even quicker than I expected, which was nice, and I got to settle in for some fun movie time to do it. Does anyone else measure binding time in movies? Like this was a two short movies job. But anyway...

This swoon quilt is for my little girl's big girl bed. That is once we convert her crib, which I imagine will be fairly soon. I love this pattern so very much, and had been wanting to scale it down. A toddler quilt seemed perfect. I did 2/3 size blocks so they finish at 16" and I love them just as much as the big ones. A 3x4 layout gave me a 48"x64" quilt which is perfect for her little bed. It shrunk down a bit, but still looks plenty big enough.

I decided on a color scheme and then tried to find fabric to fit into it, which was a lot more difficult than I anticipated on a computer screen. I originally wanted aqua instead of navy, but I loved the navy fabrics so I went with that instead. It does make it seem a bit more serious, but I really like it. And I really didn't want a solid background so I used a lizzy house jewel print instead.  The back is a sweet plaid I picked up at Joanns, which had the benefit of being 57" wide so I didn't need to piece it. I love the way it is so different but still goes with the front. The binding is a gray, also from Joanns, and I don't love it, it seems a little too on the blue side compared to the other grays I used, but I guess it works. My husband tells me it does anyway :) I also don't feel bad since a toddler bed won't last all that long anyway haha, and I am sure she will have much more say in the next bed quilt.

For the quilting, I did a loopy design going up and down in columns. I love it. A lot. I wasn't sure it would work, but it is really quite nice. It keeps it soft since the quilting is not too dense and was quick and fun to do. You can kind of see it in this picture, but it blends in pretty well.

It already got the seal of approval from the little one as she rolled around in it this afternoon. Now we just need to work on some potty training so we can convert the bed! This week is shaping up to be a crazy one, so I need to just take my relaxing sewing time while I can get it today and tomorrow and see what I can get done. I have already done a lot this weekend and I have high hopes for the next couple days.

progress is being made

I spent yesterday quilting and getting the binding on the front of my toddler swoon quilt. I love the way it is turning out and I can't wait to get it all finished, washed and dried. I am looking forward to a couple evenings sewing the binding down. Hopefully it will go quickly. I really just have these couple phone pictures that I took while I was working for now, but I am looking forward to getting some proper photos when it is finished.

Did I ever mention that after I make my binding, I wrap it around a toilet paper roll? It makes my life so much easier and I an just roll it out as I go. I don't even know how I started doing it, but it seriously works great. Anyway....


I guess that means my skill builder quilt top is up next. I am still debating sashing width, but I will make a decision today and start cutting I hope. And then I will get to start something new! *happy dance*

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. We are supposed to get some family pictures done so I am plotting which quilt(s) I may sneak into the pictures this time :) And maybe I'll be back Monday with a finished quilt!

thoughts of knitting

Good Morning! With all this traveling, this week got away from me. So since I have worked on absolutely nothing sewing related in the past week, I am going to skip the wip wednesday link-up and talk about something else instead. That something else: yarn. Knitting really I guess. I don't know, it just felt like time for an update.

Part one of the update is about the afghan. You remember the one? The one I swore I was going to finish because I found it and it was taking up space. Well I made a handful more blocks and just couldn't take it anymore. It has a new home now with my dad who can do with it as he pleases. It was stressing me out just looking at it hanging around and I wasn't enjoying making the blocks anymore. So that is gone and off the list. Not exactly how I was hoping for it to end, but it's nice not to have to worry about it anymore.

I have been making slow progress on the other thing on my list which is a cowl for my sister.

It is looking good so far and I am just past halfway done I think. I am just going until I run out of yarn so we'll see how wide it gets. It is looking good though and I am kind of excited to see it finished. Not that there is a really hurry I guess, since it doesn't do much good when it is so stinking hot out.

I have also decided that I would like to try making a pair of socks. I had been debating trying something on smaller needles ever since one of the ladies at the yarn shop said that her hands hurt less when she used smaller needles. The deal was sealed when I found a yarn I love. I didn't buy it yet, but my dad let me have some pretty yarn he had to test the waters. And he is lending me his book about knitting two pairs at once on circular needles.

I figured my biggest problem would be not wanting to make the second sock so hopefully this will take care of that. I am hoping to get some needles and get to work soon, once I finish the cowl. So we'll see how I feel about sock knitting. I hear it is very portable and relaxing so I have high hopes. And hopefully it doesn't take me too long to get the hang of it. I picked a super simple pattern to start with. I really hope I enjoy it!

I also want to start a blanket but I don't think I'll be doing that until fall so I'll deal with that then. And that is my knitting update for now. It's not that impressive, I know, but I'm going to blame the heat. Now I need to go get some sewing done!

WIP Wednesday {7.11.12}

Happy Wednesday! After skipping out last week, I am back with 2 weeks of projects! And who knows what will happen next week since we are taking another short trip this weekend, but at any rate, I do have things to show for myself.

Completed:

Dresden Toddler Quilt

Finished and given! I love how it came out.

Birthday Dress

So cute! I can't wait to see her in it at her party this weekend  :)

Skill Builder blocks 35 & 36

I am finished the final blocks for this sampler! I can't wait to see how they all come together!

Clutch for my sista

This is a belated part of her thank you for watching my little love while we were on vacation.


Still Going:

toddler swoon quilt

It is basted! Hopefully next week I will find the time to quilt it, but I still have to settle on a binding.

ipad case
This seems to be moving from soon to someday....


Waiting:

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

Not too shabby! I am really looking forward to finishing up that swoon quilt, so hopefully I will have time next week. I also feel like I have more things waiting to be started but for the life of me I can't think what they are.  And now I need to go come to terms with the fact that July is almost half over and I have a lot to do....

Skill Builder Sampler: the final blocks!!

Here it is, the last group of blocks for the skill builder sampler! I can't believe it is finally here. I have decided not to think about putting them all together at this moment and just bask in the glow of being done all 36 blocks. And the last 3 were crazy!

Block 34:Surveyor's Compass or New York Beauty. I love this block. Just love. There are so many stinking pieces and it took me forever, but the end result is so worth it.

Block 35: Feathered Star. This block was a pain. I did the paper pieced version and it was still a pain. Putting that center square in was a beast!

Block 36: Alice Brooks Butterfly. This one is pretty cool and definitely not one I would have ever tried otherwise. It was really not as bad as I was afraid it would be so that was a nice way to finish. It is not perfect, but I like it.


I am glad to have these 3 behind me! When I was all finished, I tried laying them all out together so I could see it and they didn't fit on my living room floor very well, so I had to settle for a collage from the individual photographs. I have started thinking about layout but I need to do some measurments first and figure out if I have enough fabric and everything.

Oh, and in case you are wondering. Remember how I said I didn't have much fabric left? Well here is a picture of all that remains of my 12 half yards. Crazy!

So that's that. No more blocks to make, just a quilt to put together. I am so excited for this quilt top. I am hoping that next week I can get started on it, but who knows. I want it done by the end of the month anyway if I can manage it. I guess we'll see! Have a great Monday!

A {late} birthday dress

Guess what?!?! I finished something! A small something, I admit, but that makes two finishes in one week and that feels impressive at this particular moment! Yesterday, I finally made a birthday dress for my baby girl. Clearly the fact that her birthday is past makes no difference, and at least she has a party coming up to wear it :)

I fell in love with the sweetheart dress pattern when I saw it on Pinterest (of course). It is from luvinthemommyhood and I knew right away it needed to be the birthday dress this year. Especially since it came with the 2T pattern I needed so I could save the step of drafting my own. I did alter it a little to make the sleeves more narrow, but that was pretty simple.

It was a bit complicated, but I made it through. It is my first lined bodice and I love the way it turned out. I will say it is a bit hard to get on her, but fits pretty perfectly once it is. I don't imaging it will fit for long, but hopefully she doesn't grow too much to wear it in the next week. I think her party theme is going to be circles so this fabric was perfect. And really I was too lazy to line the bodice with a different fabric, so it's all the same which is only a problem for seeing the heart on the back when she isn't wearing it. I love it though and she looks really cute in it. I only have one picture of her in it when I was trying it on for hem length, but that's okay, I'll be sure to get plenty of pictures next week.

Now I just have to really try to get my skill builder blocks all finished up. Sooner rather than later I hope. Hm, I actually have a lot to do in the next week before we head back to do some more family visiting. Here's hoping for a productive weekend!

Beautiful Girly Dresdens

Hey! How have you been? Things have been crazy around here. As it turns out, one night in the emergency room has the power to throw off your entire week. So I am a bit slower than usual right now and have less time/energy for sewing, not to mention blogging. I am on the mend though, so hopefully I will be able to get back to working on more things soon. In the mean time I am just trying to keep it low key and manageable.

I did have one great and necessary finish though! I finally finished up the toddler dresden quilt I have been working on and gave it to the birthday girl yesterday :) I think it was a hit and she just got her toddler bed for her birthday as well so she is all set for big girl world.

It is a fairly simple design. I just made dresden plates of different sizes and angles until I had a layout I was happy with. I think the biggest are about 17" across and the smallest are about 7" with a couple sizes in between. I started out with the template from the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop For Quilters book which has 16 points. I made it with both the size in the book and enlarged to 200%. For the others I made a 30 degree angle template myself in different sizes. The fabric is a collection from Connecting Threads....Antoinette I believe, that I got last winter on clearance. I actually bought it with this particular little girl in mind and it took me this long to make a quilt out of it.

For the background I used a nice soft flat sheet from Target. I was excited I was actually able to buy just the flat sheet actually and it worked great. I appliqued the flowers on to the background first and then sandwiched it and quilted around each flower, then I put the centers on and quilted them on. To fill in the blank space I did a nice little loopy all around. It gave me a world of trouble, but it looks nice. Naturally I used pink thread :) The back is a pottery barn sheet I got a while back, leftover from making curtains. I just love the floral pattern. I forget what the binding is at the moment, but it is the perfect border.

It ended up a bit smaller than I intended at 41x59, but it should work on a crib mattress in a toddler bed. I really hope she likes it and it provides her many snuggley nights. My next quilting project will be to finish up the toddler swoon, hopefully sometime soon. But my little girl need a birthday dress first and I do owe my sister a few promised things...Also, I really must finish up my skill builder blocks. This list just keeps on going! Enjoy your holiday week!