Saturday, October 31, 2009

Quiet Blogging Week

This week, I struggled blogging. For some reason, all the editing tools disappeared from blogger. Finally, they reappeared today. What a frustration - I had so much to tell you!

Let me start by showing you the cute new patterns I purchased for Olivia from Mani Mina .






I started working on the French Ruffle Dress - progress pictures coming soon!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Worst Pumpkin in the World

Most kids get excited over finding the very best pumpkin in the patch. I was convinced this project - my first appliqué attempt - would inspire the same joyful feeling. Alas, it's a tad on the sad side. Lumpy, uneven, and, well, ugly.



Not for lack of trying, my poor produce looks like a 5-year-old was at the machine guiding the needle along it's pathetic journey around the edges.





Don't color out side the lines? Well, apparently that goes for sewing too. Oops.

In other news (better news), my package from the Fabric Shack came yesterday! (see Wednesday's post).  I cannot wait to take my scissors to this fabric and make some beautiful quilts. More on that to come.









Have a happy sewing weekend!





Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I Want It Wednesdays

I bought a TON of fabric from the Fabric Shack this week.

Here's a sampling of what is to come on my doorstep... Can't wait!












My plan is to make some Christmas gifts with this fabric. More to come!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Pattern to Come?

I finished quilting this lap-sized quilt today. What do you think? Is it worth writing out the pattern to share?






On football Sundays, I have a tradition of putting the card table in front of the tv and going to town sewing.





Of course, there are plenty of interruptions with a two-year-old around. To keep her occupied (and happy that Max and Ruby is not on), I get her going on a craft. Here she is making a Halloween decoration. A budding crafter to be sure!



Saturday, October 17, 2009

Quilted Cupcake Pattern for Donation




I've come to love the podcast Quilted Cupcake. The host, Jean, has a comfortable, approachable style that makes me feel like I've known her forever. She has a genuine soul and is totally true to herself.


One of her passions is supporting Alzheimer research in honor of her late mother, Lucy. A touching gesture, she and her sister are raising funds to participate in a walk for the team Walking for Lucy.


To get her listeners involved in Walking for Lucy, Jean is offering her pattern to anyone who donates $5 to the charity. Not only that, but she will send the pattern to a donor's friend as well. Her pattern is an adorable cupcake that can be made several ways (see pics above). Get info here . To donate, click here .

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Tweet! Tweet!

I host a Stitch In every other Friday. Typically, each person brings whatever project they'd like to work on, but this time, we decided to do a theme and all make the Birdie Sling by Amy Butler (who else!?).



Even my daughter got in on the fun. Here she is on grandma's lap helping cut out the pieces. The group agreed cutting out this bag seems to take twice as long as actually sewing it.



Each person brought very different fabric - some traditional, some youthful. A beatuiful feature of this bag is that it works with all fabrics.



And here we are STILL cutting...



Soon our sewing machines started to whir. When all four were going at the same time, the neighbors probably thought we were starting a small jet engine in our home!









A few hours - and glasses of wine - into the evening, our Birdie Slings began to come together.

Here's my mom's...



And my mother in-law's...



And my friend's...



And mine...



I'm always sad when the Friday Night Stitch Ins come to an end and so look forward to the next one. Not sure what our next theme will be - or if we will do another theme night. But, I think every one had an enjoyable time making the Birdie Sling. After all, a woman can never have too many bags, can she?

Friday, October 9, 2009

Milk & Cookies without the Calories

Love this pattern from Fig Tree Threads - Milk & Cookies girl's dress pattern.



It uses jelly roll cuts and is sold for a mere $5.95 - several dollars less than an average pattern price.

A little girl's t-shirt is used for the bodice, and the skirt looks like it's pleated strips of fabric. I wonder if it is lined? All those seams might not feel good on little one's legs... Probably simple to add a lining if I chose.

Hmmm. Might be ordering this. Looks like a fun pattern, and I could easily make it long sleeved for the winter and the colors in the skirt could be seasonal. How cute would it be to do autumn colors for Thanksgiving? Okay. I've convinced myself. Going over to buy one. I'll let  you know how it turns out!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

I Want It Wednesdays

So my next big project is going to be a queen-sized quilt for my bedroom. Since I have a craft show and a lot of holiday gift sewing ahead of me, making my quilt will likely have to wait until after Christmas. But I am having fun looking at different patterns and fabrics in the meantime.

As far as colors, my bedroom walls are a spa blue - very serene and chill - and my furniture is black. I have not done a good job incorporating other accent colors into the room except different shades of blue, like my curtains which are navy velvet. So, for the quilt colors, I'm thinking about several shades of blue plus green accents.

This would be a nice start - Amy Butler's Midwest Modern from Fabric Supplies ' Etsy shop.


Or what about this? Amy Butler's Love from Pink Polka Dot Studio . Maybe a combo of the one above and the set below?

 Still have shopping ahead of me - not that that is necessarily a bad thing! Any suggestions? Ideas?

Monday, October 5, 2009

Finished Hushabye Quilt


I am so pleased with the finished results of my Hushabye baby quilt. Yesterday, I was determined to finished the quilting. When that was done (half way through the Browns v. Bengals game) I decided to tackle the binding, which I finished hand stitching while rewatching My Big Fat Greek Wedding (love that movie!) Somehow, I also managed to make dinner and keep an eye on my two-year-old too!




Once I started on this quilt, I just couldn't stop - it was so much fun! From start to finish, it took me 9 days. If I hadn't insisted upon using scraps to piece the back, I could have finished much sooner. The back was challenging to make look purposeful in design but also use up as many scraps as I could.




I must say I love to use my new darning foot to create the stippling look. Once I got in a groove, the actual technique was not difficult to master. Of course, I have room for improvement - if you look closely there are some cross overs and jagged edges. None of the errors are noticeable from a short distance, though. Only scrupulous quilters would detect my mistakes - at least I hope so!



This quilt will be for sale at an upcoming craft show my mom and I are doing together. I'm also working on some other projects for the craft show and will update you on those soon. Have a great week!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Hushabye Baby Quilt



I completed the top of this pinwheel quilt this morning. The fabrics are mostly from the line of Moda Hushabye. The top took less than a charm pack, leaving me enough to do a pieced back along with some of the pink solid.



I also bought some oversized ric-rack, enough for the short ends of the quilt. I love how chunky and soft the ric-rack is and wish I had bought a few more yards to go around the entire perimeter.



The border is also from the Hushabye line. I think I bought around a 1/2 yard of it. Between the Kona cotton solids, charm pack, extra yardage of the print, and ric-rack, this quilt will cost less than $40 - maybe even less than $30 depending on what I do for the back. Not bad for high-quality materials.

I think it's turning out pretty cute! Can't wait to quilt it. I've been practicing stippling, and will show you my attempts in an upcoming post.