quilt blocks!

No kidding, guys, I've actually been working on a quilt! And since I don't know when I will get around to another, I am really trying to enjoy this one. I started collecting I-spy type blocks a while ago with the idea of making a quilt for my little people at some point. Then the little one started preschool and her teacher is amazing and I saw the picnic blankets they were using, and well, I am sure you can see where this is going.

So I am making an economy block quilt, using 5" squares for the center, with blocks finishing around 9" when I sew them all together. 81 blocks should make a very respectable quilt, I think.

As far as fabric, I cut a square from everything I had that would work for a center and bought a small charm pack on etsy to fill it in. Then I cut all the squares for the surrounding pieces and let the little on match everything up however she wanted. My only rule was that they couldn't be so similar that you couldn't tell the squares apart, and it worked out pretty well. She picks such amazing combinations and I love watching her think about it and decide what goes with what.

So now I just have to get these turned into a quilt top, and then a quilt, hopefully pretty soon. In the meantime, I have one more thing to sew for the littlest before I start on my clothes and then some giftish things. I think having this quilt top out of the way will free up some mental space and help me feel like I am getting things finished, and it will be even better when the whole quilt is finished. Slowly but surely, progress is made.

a very important first

Today, I am pleased to show you my little girls first quilt! Every once in a while, she has been asking if she could sew with me and help make something. She's 4 now and I thought she could handle it, so we set about making a small quilt together. It really is small, just baby size really, but she helped do so much of it!

It started with a charm pack of constellations that I got at sew south and have been saving. I knew I wanted to use it for a small quilt, I just needed a pattern that wouldn't need much more. Enter the modern disappearing 9 patch quilt. I actually had a couple of options for her to choose from and that is what she picked, so we used the charm pack plus a few extras, and some gray that I had enough of. I let her lay out all the 9 patches and help sew them together (sitting on my lap guiding them though) and then she did the layout of blocks after that. I did the cutting and ironing, but she picked out the back (a soft, light lawn fabric from my grandmother), helped baste, helped decide on quilting and then quilt it, pick binding, and sew the binding on. As a side note, it was a little hard for my inner control freak not to move things around or suggest alternates, but I am glad I managed it and let this design be hers.

It was actually a pretty long process since she got bored pretty easily so it sat around a lot between steps, but she is so proud and happy to have this little quilt to play with. At this point, I try to let her help when I can and she is interested and we will probably consider getting her a small machine in the fairly near future if she wants one. We'll see. In any case, happy weekend everyone!

tote or backpack??

Are you familiar with perfect pattern parcels that have been happening lately? Every couple of weeks there is a two week sale of 5 indie designer patterns and you choose your price. It is pretty awesome and a great way to get some really great patterns. This last one (the second one I've purchased) was actually geared towards sewing for boys, but there were a couple of patterns I just loved so much I had to get it. I have another item sewn from these patterns coming up soon, but for today, I wanted to share my Jet Pack bag by Betz White.

I know I mentioned not too long ago that I am always on the hunt for a bag. And I was all set to make myself a new super tote (which may still happen) when I spotted this bag. It has one very important feature that I have been looking for, and that is that it can be worn either as a messenger/tote bag or as a backpack. This seems brilliant when going out and about with little people, so I figured it would be a perfect bag for walks to the park. I had already worked out the super tote in my head, so I just transferred my ideas to this baby and it worked beautifully! Mostly this meant that I knew I was going to do some bright, summery patchwork, and use the wrong side of some denim for the accents, and use this amazing polka dot for the lining. I even had most of the hardware for this, which was perfect. Speaking of the hardware, I did tweak a little bit to accommodate the 1.5" hardware that I had instead of buying the 1.25" that the pattern calls for. An easy adjustment that worked out just fine.

My only complaint is that I had to hand stitch the lining, which I hate doing, but I admit it does look quite nice. I omitted the inside pockets since I never end up using them, and with two outer pockets, I felt like I would be fine, and used a magnetic snap instead of a twist lock on the front pocket since I had it. I quilted the patchwork to batting and some outdoor fabric and the lining is intefaced with some shapflex. The denim is actually a pair of old jeans that the hubs was getting rid of. I had just enough length for the strap pieces actually, and it felt like a great use of old fabric. Using the wrong side was an idea I got from someone on insagram, but I can't remember quite who. It looks pretty chambray-ish really, but is so sturdy. I love it, and didn't have to interface the denim at all. My machine even took it pretty well!

So now I am ready to start using this and I am pretty excited! I think it will still be a bit small for longer outings involving more diapers and food and such, but for some short trips I think it will be perfect, and will continue working as they grow. I hope to be back soon to show a whole lot of baby stuff for some dear friends/family that I can't wait to share!

this and that

Do you remember how I said when I felt overwhelmed, it seemed like a good idea to start a new quilt? Because apparently that is actually a thing I do. I thought at the time that it was kind of a one-off thing, like maybe just then because I had been waiting to make that particular quilt or something. But no, I've done it again. Unfortunately, this will not be nearly as quick as the last time, so I may be putting myself in for yet another long term project. I just got this block in my head the other night and could.not.get.it.out. So I started sketching and thinking and working out the math and in the morning sewing and ripping and drawing and playing until I had just what I wanted. And I'll tell you, I love it. But they take forever and being the crazy person I am, I really want a pretty big quilt of them. They finish at 6" so it is going to take quite a few of them and this represents all of them that I got made this weekend. So, there's that. On the plus side, it should be a mighty good scrap buster, which I need right now :)

In other news, I am stitching away at my kawaii winter sampler from the frosted pumpkin stitchery. I got it years ago and even got all the materials and everything and it has just been sitting and waiting. Finally as part of my cleaning out all the things, I pulled it out. It is the last thing standing between me and sweater making, so I am pretty determined and have been spending all the time I can working at it. It takes longer than I'd like and I don't think I love cross stitch, but I do absolutely love the way it is coming together and I am very much looking forward to having this one to hang up this winter. Even if I am actually driving myself a little crazy with it right now.  The top left corner looks a little wonky, but I promise it isn't.

The cross stitch is really what is sucking up most of my time right now, but I have some serious cleaning and packing to do since we will be away next week to see family and celebrate a certain little girl turning 4(!!!!). Next week I will finally share the birthday things I have been making her, and let me tell you, they are pretty awesome. I guess after we get through that, I have a certain 1st birthday to prepare myself for....oh boy. I don't know if my mama heart can take all this excitement haha. Anyway, I'll be back soon with some other little things that have been happening.

when life starts to feel overwhelming....

Make a new quilt top, obviously! I know I can't be alone in this. I have been feeling a little bogged down lately, too many things to do and no idea where to start. And most of it happens to be clothes for myself, so I am not even sure what I am doing since I am still just learning at this point. I have at least 7 things on my list to make for myself but between fear of them not fitting/hating them/wasting fabric, and lack of experience, I am hesitant to start. I need to just pick a place and do it, but in the meantime I decided I was just going to do something that I wanted to do just because it made me happy.

Enter the cascade quilt. Designed by my sew south roomie from last year, susannah kate, this pattern is pretty great. I decided a while ago that I wanted to make a scrappy rainbow version, but it just kept getting put off. I woke up the other day and just had to do it though, so I pulled my fabric, 40 different prints in red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, pink, purple, gray, and black. I was a bit short on purple so purple and dark pink got put together, but I think it worked out fine. I had so much fun pulling fabric, it was hard to stop! I stuck with the layout in the pattern to distribute the colors and I really love it.

Anyway, after that things went really quickly and within a matter of a couple days, I had a quilt top. The background is kona snow, just because I had it. I am already plotting a back and figuring out how to quilt it, so I hope it won't be too long before it is a finished quilt. I also got my backing for the pony club so I need to find time and space to tackle that beast. And eventually, there will be a parade of clothes!

lovely little hexies

Happy Friday! As I mentioned Monday, I am totally cleaning it out and getting it done over here so I have another finish to show today! I know, it's pretty shocking, but it's true! Today, my hexie pillow is all finished and has joined the pile on the couch.

I am a little ashamed of how long ago I started these hexies. Make that very ashamed. I had them all basted over a year ago....last February instagram tells me....and I have a picture of basting them from November before that....so um wow. As it turns out, I hate epp. I mean, I love it in theory and the results are amazing, but I personally hate all that hand stitching. It makes my hands sore and I just... don't like it. So lesson learned. Not so much hand sewing in my future.

Back to this pillow case. I went in to high gear and got the entire thing sewn together in less than a week. Which seems incredible after how long I avoided it. They are 1" hexies and I used a charm pack of lucy's crab shack (love that fabric!) that I cut into 2.5" squares. I ended up using mostly low volume on the front because that's what I basted first and realized I had enough. I used the remaining pieces on the back to do some simple patchwork with a bit of gray mixed in so that I would have enough. It is between 15-16" when all is said and done.

I may or may not have quilted this thing to within an inch of its life. I did an x and then echoed it on the front and I love it. I am never patient enough to do this on a big quilt so a nice little pillow is perfect. The back pieces just have some straight lines. For the binding, I was working with what I had and used some gray I had leftover. I am always worried about it not being strong enough for my *ahem* firmly stuffed pillows, so I used a decorative stitch to put the binding on and it looks pretty sweet. I opted for binding mostly so it will be totally washable without having to worry about seams inside. I admit it is a bit thick with the entire thing being so heavily quilted, but it does look pretty nice.

It feels so good to have that one off the list and out of the cabinet. Which means I get to spend some time just working on pony club blocks and my DWR quilt :) Soon, I'll have a new knitting project to start and I can't wait. I also have some pretty ambitious plans to make myself some new clothes, in addition to the dress I need some pictures of. In fact, I think I even have a pair of pj pants that I was planning to make at sew south last year....hm, I should dig those out and see what I can figure out. Have a good weekend everyone!

the final quilt finish of 2013

Ya know, at some point you just have such a pile of stuff that you don't know where to start. It seems impossible to get going and figure out what to do, but eventually you just pick a place and start. (or in my recent life, you pick 3 places and start ha!). I have been all over the place this week but I have a quilt top finished, a big pile of fabric for an overly ambitious project, and some templates cut. It is probably the first time I have had so many things going at once and at this particular moment in time, it suits me. I like being able to pick and choose what I am in the mood for, which seems to be changing by the minute. I have a feeling this is going to be the year of the never ending projects. There are just too many big, long term things going on. Or almost going on I guess.

I also had to just pick a place to start sharing my recent makes and decided that my most recent quilt finish was the way to go. I am happy to say that the quilt I made for my neighbor is all finished and gifted; I even managed to eek out two pillow shams as well to complete the ensemble! Does anyone remember this stack of fabric? I am ashamed to say I have had this stack of fabric sitting and waiting since the very beginning of May.

It is an original design. She told me she wanted it to look random but structured so I sat down with my graph paper and came up with this using a 3" grid.

I went back and forth for a while on whether to get rid of the y-seams since there are quite a few, but in the end I decided that changing that would ultimately hurt the design and the beautiful random simplicity. They really weren't that bad to sew either! I was pleasantly surprised. And once I got down to it, I think it only took me two days from cutting the fabric to a basted queen sized quilt.

I used a sheet that I found on clearance at Kohl's for the back and stuck in a random strip of leftovers to make it big enough and I love it. I quilted it in organic straight lines and bound it in kona sand I think. Or was it stone? I don't know, but it was a nice neutral solid that frames it nicely.

I was cutting it pretty close on the pillow shams and almost didn't have enough fabric. In the end, I made it work and went with a quilted front and bound edges and a nice envelope back. It gets awfully hard to wing it and make it look intentional in situations like this where you have so little to work with. I would say that if I added up all that I have left it would be less than a fat quarter from like 23 cuts of fabric and a twin sheet set.

I'll be honest, this is so far from a style that I usually work in, I am almost surprised how much I have ended up loving it. Probably because it is just so very 'them' and it looks exactly like what she wanted. It was gifted this past weekend and received with excitement and love. Within an hour of their departure I got this picture of it all settled on their bed :)

So there. Now I've chosen my place and begun. Theoretically it will now be easier to continue which means I plan to be back with more soon!

Finished: Dogwood Blossom

Don't die of shock or anything, but I actually did finish two quilts recently and I am posting about them :) I finally gave up waiting for the sun though since, no lie, it has been almost a week without more than a glimpse of the sun, so the pictures are not my favorite, but oh well. I am thinking of sending this off to be loved by a sweet new baby, so I need it taken care of.

This is the dogwood blossom pattern from the penny sampler class. I did already talk about the top what feels like ages ago, but it was my first sketch stitch applique project, using two different methods to turn under the raw edges. I am still not very good at either of them, but I think sketch stitching and I will be good friends.

Anyway, I got it in my head that it needed to be backed in minky, so I found some of that and went to put it together and realized that it was showing through some of the lighter fabrics on the front. So, after much consideration, I decided to just put a layer of white flannel between them. Part of the reason I didn't want batting (aside from how ridiculously thick that would have been) was that I wanted pretty sparse quilting. I only stitched on either side of each seam line, so it is super, super snuggly.

I did zig-zag the edges before I put the binding on to stop the shedding of the fabric and make it easier, which it did. The binding is whatever pink/brown binding scraps I had lying around that I could make work, so it isn't ideal, but I think I like it. It is just lovely now that it is all finished, all soft and wonderful. I kinda want to keep it, but I think it would be much better for a northern baby. Perfect for making a soft place to lay on the floor or snuggling in a stroller I would say. Hopefully I will get it on it's way soon.

In other news, I am caught up on my penny sampler blocks for a few minutes, so I am going to try and get some pictures of those soon as well.

Big girl!

Well would you look at that, I came back as promised to share the big girl quilt! Two posts in one week! And I am aiming for the same next week! I clearly need to lay off the exclamation points haha. Amidst complete diet change (at least for now, hello whole30), visitors, an impending move (just a few streets over, but still), a newborn and a needy toddler, the fun never stops around here. Still, it is good and I am sneaking in my sewing time when I can.

This big girl quilt is definitely the biggest quilt I have made in ages. I kept it simple and it still felt like it took forever. Thankfully I finished it in time for the big girl bed to be up and running as planned. I used almost entirely scraps, which determined the strip sizes I used. All the strips were cut between 2-3.5" and the columns are 12", 18", and 8". I think it finished at something like 70"x85" after washing and everything, which seems to be a pretty good twin size.

I used some of my favorite fabrics and fussy cut a lot of cute ones I had been saving for her. It was so much fun, and it turned out I cut an extra column's worth, so I am planning a baby quilt too. My favorites include the guy in the boat fishing, whales, owls, foxes, deer, birds....okay lots of them!

The back started with the animal print I had been saving. It was actually going to be a duffle bag or something until I realized a white background would be a mistake for something like that. Anyway, I pulled colors to go with it and made it work. I love it, even if it is a little random. It felt great to use up so much that I have had sitting around for ages, waiting for just the right thing.

I quilted just doing organic lines every couple of inches across. It keeps it soft which is perfect. Binding is a pink pindot, chosen by the lady herself. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it's perfect with her bed frame. I did machine sew the binding, because on her last bed quilt it started coming off on the back where I had hand sewn. I don't know if it was me since I has never happened before, or just the roughness of a toddler, but I decided to take no chances on this one. It is not my favorite look, but it will work. I chose to sew it down on the front since I haven't mastered making it invisible/catching it all from the other side.

She has been using her big girl bed for a week now and seems to love it! The blue bed frame that we got off craigs list and painted really makes it, I think. And I love sitting and looking at all the different fabric from so many different projects over the years.

It will look even better once we are away from the green walls I think. Not a color I would have chosen, but ah well. With any luck, I will get some pictures and be able to show you my finished dogwood blossom quilt early next week and maybe finish some panties and catch up on some penny sampler blocks. Dream big! Have a lovely weekend everyone!

dogwood blossoms

I made a quilt top!! A whole freaking quilt top! I don't know when it will become a quilt, but that is neither here nor there. I have been really living it up with daddy home to help with these two little kiddos and taking full advantage of naptime. Older child "naps" (really just plays in her room)  and daddy and baby snuggle while mommy sews. It has been a winning situation all around. Unfortunately, daddy is back to work this week so I am expecting productivity to drop off quite a bit unless my littles magically synchronize their naps ha!

Anyway, back to the point. Quilt top!! This is the dogwood blossoms quilt top which is one of the practice projects for the penny sampler class at stitched in color. Our first section is all about the applique. We learned two different methods for finishing those edges and I tried both of them in this quilt, and it was great practice. I also did sketch stitching to attach all those petals for the first time and man, I love it. It is definitely my kind of thing, so forgiving and nice and bold. I actually love this quilt top more than I even thought I would. I used pretty much all the brown fabric I had and a lot of the pink, and made this sweet little baby girl blanket.

One applique method is using freezer paper and the other is sew and turn. And if I'm honest, I'm not all that great at either of them. I think they are easier for me than needle turn, but I think I am just kind of bad at applique. Maybe all this practice will make me not so bad, but I'm doubtful. I definitely have totally different problems with each method, but in the end, I think they all look pretty good and it's not so noticeable if you don't look too closely. 

The top finished at somewhere around 39" and I am thinking a nice plush minky backing (without batting) will be perfect. Once I go get some. I am a little scared of minky, but I am going to try it anyway.

So now I am working on the actual penny sampler blocks. I am almost caught up on the blocks from the last 2 weeks (spoiler alert: I absolutely love them!!) so I'll hopefully be back with those soon. Assuming my first week home alone with 2 kids doesn't kill me :)

easing back in

Well, here I am. Slowly, very slowly, I am getting back into the swing of things and we are finding our new normal. I still don't know how much sewing time that will involve, but I am hopeful that I'll squeeze in some time. I am super thankful that my ridiculously wonderful husband has been home and given me a little time to start working on a few things.


First, here is my fabric that I collected for my penny sampler quilt.

I went a little overboard, but I love it. I am going for mostly black/white/cream/gray with pops of blue, pink, and yellow. I am hoping I can keep it balanced but it is going to be hard to do without a design wall....or any space large enough to lay it out really. Class started last week so obviously I am already behind, but I have been thinking about it at least so I'll be ready to go.

I also decided that I am going to go ahead and make the practice quilt. The project choices were a pillow or a quilt and while I know I don't need to do either, I like the quilt and would really like to learn/practice some sketch applique and work on the different applique techniques before I do it on the quilt, since that was the main skill I was aiming to learn and improve in this class. So I am downsizing and making a baby quilt with 9 blocks to practice. And get this, I already have the fabric cut! Excuse the blurry phone picture; getting out the real camera was just not on the agenda in the short time I had.

I don't know when I'll have time to actually make the blocks, but I am on my way. At least they don't look difficult and I'll get to try out both applique methods. Not to mention it should be a really cute baby quilt when it is eventually done. I am using pretty much all the brown fabric I have and mixing it with some pinks and I am loving it so far. I am pretty excited about having these blocks finished so I am hoping I will find the time to make them this week so I can get started on the sampler blocks. I am hoping I don't fall too far behind, but who knows. One day at a time :)

twinkle: a {finally} finished quilt!

It is finally finished!! A month and a half after pulling fabrics and piecing a quilt top, I finally finished this sweet little quilt for my coming little one. Honestly, I don't know why it took me so stinking long. I mean, most of it was just avoiding hand sewing down the binding for no particular reason.

This came from a stack of fabric I got out with an entirely different quilt in mind. I just couldn't see that one coming together though, so I decided I would make this sparkle punch pattern instead and I am so, so happy with the finally result. I struggled with a background since I really didn't want to use white and really wanted to use something in my stash. I opted for this nicey jane fabric that I am in love with. I questioned myself on and off for this decision, but in the end I love it. The patterned background gives it such a different look! I used 5" squares so it ended up being about 40.5" x 45" before I washed it. It should be quite a good baby size.

I also struggled with how to quilt it. In the end I went with some loopy quilting which looks pretty good. I really wanted to try something new, I just was in no mood to actually do it. This looks good though and it isn't too dense so it's still a pretty soft quilt. The binding was another issue for me and it sat for many days while I decided what to use. My inital plan of using a darker teal just wasn't making me happy when it was all together so I settled on this lizzy house fabric which is hard to see but is the light pink jewel print. The back is the remainder of the sheet that I had used for both my little ones curtains and another quilt back.

Now all it needs is a sweet little baby on top of it :) Not too many more weeks now! I am trying not to wish away my summer, but I am just about ready to meet this little one. In the meantime, I have a certain little girls 3rd (!!!) birthday to get ready for so that should keep me busy. I am hard at work on her birthday dress right now....if only simplicity patterns were written in simple english! Hopefully it comes out alright, but I do admit I have no idea how to finish it. Also, I did finish my super tote and I just need to go get some pictures of it, so that will be coming soon. Here's to a good week!

twinkle

Alright, a new week. Hopefully this one goes better than the last. I will say that I did get more sleep, but unfortunately, I also got pretty sick. I think I am getting better now, so hopefully the mending will continue and I will be good to go very soon. If I was smart, I would have spent the weekend curled up on the couch hand quilting, but I got a little obsessed with the baby quilt once it was all planned out in my head, and then I needed to see what it would look like. So now I have a new quilt top. (the picture doesn't really do it justice, but I tried)

It was fun to do some assembly line piecing for a change. Between my pony club quilt and the medallion, I haven't done much of that recently and it was nice and mindless. And while I may have pushed myself a bit more than I should have to get it done, I really do love it. I used 11 different fabrics for the stars, starting with some les amis prints I had, and then used some nicey jane for the background. It was definitely a different choice, but I think it worked out really well. I used charm squares so it finished at about 40.5" x 45", entirely determined by the amount of background fabric I had, but a good baby size.

Now I just need to figure out how to quilt it. I am thinking some sort of all over design, maybe loops or something. I don't know. But that's okay because I am determined to have the medallion quilt hand quilted first. That is my goal for this week. And then maybe I'll feel motivated to get back to toddler clothes. And my goodness do I have a long list of baby things I want to make! I'll worry about that next week. This week I am going to relax and enjoy my hand quilting and then have some friends come visit for a couple of days and hopefully have a simply marvelous week :) Hope you do too!