The Next Project

I am so excited to work on this next baby quilt. It will be a gift for a friend of a friend. The fabrics were picked out a while ago, back when I was naive and believed that my morning sickness wouldn't be that bad. Oh well, live and learn. The good thing is that the baby hasn't arrived yet and if I hustle, it can get delivered before the baby.

Since the parents don't know the gender yet, my friend and I picked out nice neutral colors that should work for any little girl or boy. The design is going to be may favorite, preppy quilt style - I just love the clean lines and white sashing. It is such a great way to show off the beautiful prints.

Anyone interested in a scrap giveaway?

I have a decent amount of scraps leftover from my last quilt top that need a home. The fabrics include a lot of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope in red and brown, some My Folklore, a little Amy Butler and some other designers and solids.

The scraps consist of lots and lots of triangles measuring 2 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches x 3 1/4 inches, a bunch of approximately 12 inch long strips that vary in width, and a stack of pieces already sewn together.



All of these scraps have so much potential and the only reason why I am giving them away is that I am being honest about all of my upcoming projects and time commitments. It would be so much better to send them to a good home rather than have them sit in my scrap bag, neglected and lonely.

So if anyone is interested in some free fabric (I will ship it to you anywhere in the US), leave me a comment by May 27th. If more than one person is interested, I will pick a random winner. I really hope someone is interested in this. : )

She's Alive!

Hello again! I know, I know. I have been gone for such a long time, especially after such a great productive January. But I have a good excuse and it is called morning sickness. It turns out that everything, including sewing made me nauseous. Who would have thought that looking at a quilt top could make my stomach churn? Anyone else have this problem? The good news is that I am finally feeling better and am able to think about sewing again.

I do have some great action shots of my little friends modeling their new pants. I actually made these pants in early February but the thought of dragging myself off the couch and mailing them was just too much. Good thing I have a cute husband who took pity on our friends and sent the package for me.


The pants are bigger versions of the ones I did for little Julia and the reviews are a lot better. The waists on the larger sizes seem to be more proportionate and have plenty of growing room too. They look like perfect pajamas and lounge wear to me!

Quilt Action Shots - VIII

I received this pictures this morning and I can't stop cracking up. Here is the very cute couple modeling the Secret Wedding Quilt. What good gift recipients! They must know me really well because giving me actions shots is pretty much a guarantee that I will be making them more presents. Think of all the birthdays and anniversaries to come!

I even heard a rumor that new sheets and a new bed skirt were purchased to coordinate with the quilt. Hearing that actually made me tear up a bit. It makes me so happy to know that the quilt is loved and will be used. I think that is all any crafter ever wants to hear when they give a gift.

Enough waxing sentimental:

Love this "caught in a nap" shot!

And this one too! So cute!

And please let me assure you, the photographer kept things very PG by having a 19 month old toddler and a dog chaperon the shoot.

Baby Pants Action Shots

So Baby Julia is already hard at work, modeling all kinds of fun things. I made her these Crescent Moon Yoga Pants as part of her baby shower gift. It is so great to have a baby close by that can actually test drive some patterns for me and Baby Julia is certainly doing her part.
The pattern was a little confusing, especially since it only calls for two legs and a waist band but I managed to muddle through. I used my overlock machine to sew the legs together and to add on the waistband. I serged the bottoms of the pants and then used a double needle on my sewing machine to hem them.


As you can see, the new born size is still pretty big for this two month old. Julia's mom assured me that the high-waisted look is in with the new born crowd so the pants were fine until Julia grew into them. So sweet. But then again. Julia is so cute, she could rock a potato sack and look adorable.

I made two more pairs for some bigger kids and will see how the bigger versions work, but it looks like I could definitely make the waist band at least half the width to keep the band out of the baby's arm pits. I would also make the waist band a little longer since I found it hard to stretch the band to match up evenly with the pants. The material I used a stretch cotton jersey that I picked up from Joann's that has a lot of give, but it just wasn't quite enough to work with the legs. It might be different with a different jersey but I think the way to go is to cut the waist band a little longer next time and the see how it lines up. That way, I can always make it a little smaller.

Here is the little booty shot. (I know! I can't stand how cute she it either.) It is pretty clear that I could cut off at least an inch or two from the body of the pants and reduce the width of the waist band and these pants would fit a whole lot better.


Stay tuned for more modeling sessions with Julia...

Quilt Action Shots - VII

OMG! Are you ready for this? These are so cute, I can barely stand it. Here is Baby Julia hanging out on her quilt. Again, it is pictures like these that drive me to make baby quilts. My heart melts and my ovaries explode just looking at these pictures.

She is so cute you don't even notice the quilt.

Secret Wedding Quilt - Part 4

Here it is, all washed and ready to get sent out tomorrow. I love how it turned out and can't wait for the happy couple to get it in the mail.

The fabric has a faint sheen to it so it doesn't photograph as clearly as I had hoped.


Here are some close up shots of some of the blocks and the quilting.


Here is the back. I love the yellow and orange and how the blue binding looks against the bright colors. It is all sunshine and happiness and can definitely be flipped over if they want a little variety.

Here is one more close up of the blocks on the backside and the binding.

Since both my brother-in-law and his fiance are both super cute, maybe I can persuade them to take some actions for the blog. : )

Too Much Country? Not Enough Rock 'n Roll?

I bought a stack of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabric months ago on a whim but without a plan in mind. The prints aren't my usual style but I was so attracted to them that I broke down and bought them regardless. I finally saw a quilt in a blog posting about a Teen Vogue photo shoot of all things and decided to use the fat quarter stack along with some fabric from my stash and scrap bag to supplement and to make sure it wasn't too matchy-matchy and to make it a little less country. I am not so sure I was successful.

Because my inspiration came from a picture, I didn't have a good idea on how to approach making the quit top. I kicked around some ideas with a very wise quilter but ended up just plowing forward with my fingers crossed. I tried to map out the pieces on paper first to figure out how to do the ends but ended up cutting the full sized trapezoids first. After roughly figuring out how many trapazoids I needed to sew to make a 90 inch row, I got busy. I ended up using my ruler and rotary cutter on both ends and cutting straight edges, rather than trying to piece the smaller strips. Lazy and wastful but so much faster ; )

I added 1 and 7/8 inch stripes of navy blue in between the chevrons to break up the prints. I love how it looks. I keep thinking that this style would look so good with solids from the same family or a collection of more modern fabrics. (But that it is really my fault for picking fabrics that aren't really my style even though they are super cute.) Pale yellow, pale gray, pale blue and white could make for a gorgeous gender neutral baby quilt.


And here is a close up.

Now I just need to pick up some batting and get this baby quilted. It will be nice to mix up the quilts that I have on my bed now that spring is here and the big down duvet comforter will be going in to storage. And if I can't get over it, at least it will be a great quilt for houseguests.

Good thing I already have another quilt for our house in the queue.

Secret Wedding Quilt - Part 3

So here is the wedding quilt. I finished the quilting yesterday and now just have to make the binding. I can't believe that I am in the home stretch. It took a lot of time to make all of the blocks but once that was done, things really started moving.

Here is a close up of some of the blocks - they are wonky log cabins. I tried to keep a balance of size and color but didn't worry too much about it. All of the blocks were improvised.

Here is the back. Although I didn't need to, I added the orange stripe to break up the orange and to make it reversible.
Here is a close up of the three little blocks I added to the back. There was a brief moment when I considered making more, but then I reined in that insanity and moved on to the fun part - free motion quilting.
The next round of pictures will be of the finished quilt, which should hopefully be done this week. I can't wait to see how it looks after getting washed. Good thing I have another quilt in the queue so I am not tempted to keep this one for myself.

The Secret Wedding Quilt, Part 2

I was really worried that this quilt would become my great white whale, especially after how I left things last time. The first thing I did was take a break. I was getting frustrated with how the blocks weren't lying flat and the time apart was just what I needed. I realized that I was making mistake with the first round of blocks by not using my rotary cutter to make a straight edge as I built each side of the log cabin. Once I started doing that, the blocks looked so much better.

After I finished all of the blocks, I ironed the hell out of the first round of blocks and only had to redo a couple to get them to lie as flat as possible. I also knew that I could have a little puffiness and still be okay because I was planning on stippling the quilt so some of the puckers would be hidden in the quilting.

This is the biggest quilt I have ever made. It is a queen size - 90 inches by 90 inches. I know! It is humongous but the happy couple is worth it. To pin the three layers together, I tried an idea I read about online that involves taping the layers to the floor. Sadly, I have to move my sofa to clear a space in my apartment. Who knew that 7 1/2 square feet was so hard to find?

Here is the back taped to the floor. I pieced the back with a couple of mini blocks to make it a little more interesting.


And here is the finished quilt top taped down over the batting and the back. The lighting isn't great in my living room and the material has a slight sheen to it so this isn't the clearest picture but... I just couldn't resist posting pics now.

I spent the afternoon quilting it and finally finished it in time to go to the gym. Unfortunately, quilting all day can wear a gal out and I mostly did a lot of lying around on the mats. I will take more pictures tomorrow of the quilting when I have better light.

Pinwheels!

I have been meaning to try out a pinwheel quilt for ages and finally had the reason to make one this week. I had this fabric in my stash and knew that it would a perfect fit for the pinwheels.

My friend wanted to have the name of the recipient embroidered on the quilt. I went a pink that matches the fabric but sadly doesn't show up that well in these pictures. You are just going to have to take my word for it that it looks super cute. Inspired by all the great embroidering I have seen from my quilting bee ladies, I traced a butterfy from one of the prints and embroidered it next to the name for a little pizazz!

A Very Productive Couple of Days, Part 2

So knitting was my gateway craft. I learned it from a co-worker in 2003 and took to it really quickly. Sadly, I plateaued at an advanced beginner stage that I can't seem to shake, especially now that I am so obsessed with sewing. I don't have a huge stash of needles but have enough that they could benefit from an organizer and shouldn't be shoved in a tote bag, getting caught in my skeins of yarn.

And now that I am conquering my to do list, this project got the time it deserved. I used some fabric from my stash and some lovely twill tape I received as a Christmas present for the tie.

A Very Productive Couple of Days, Part 1

I am steadily working on my to do list and I am giddy with excitement. Recently, the mailman delivered some new patterns for me to try out, a little girl dress (I know, another one!) and a baby yoga pants pattern.
This little dress pattern was a breeze to make. I love lined bodices of dresses more than ever after struggling with other patterns that don't call for it. Trying to make a neat hem on such a little armhole makes me crazy because 1) it is hard and 2) I can't do it very well. It also gives the dress that little extra bit of structure and a fun opportunity to add a splash of color.

On this dress, I tried out the rolled hem foot on my machine. Things went pretty well for the most part and I think it looks appropriate on a dress this small. This is the newborn size and I am going to do whatever it takes to get some action shots of this dress.



As much as I love making little dresses, I noticed that most of the time, my favorite little babies were in stretch jersey pants so I picked up this pattern to try out. The pattern was a little confusing because it has two design options, one for regular diapers and another for cloth diapers. I had to guess on what to do at first so I used some blue jersey I had in my stash that I was willing to sacrifice. Once I got through the confusion of how to proceed with the pattern without the insert for cloth diapers, it was a snitch to make. I have an overlock machine so I did everything except for the leg hem on it. The only thing I would have done differently was to hem the legs before sewing up the leg seem.



I am going to give them to the newest baby in my life for her to test drive them. The butt looks pretty big but hopefully it only looks big to me because I am not used to adjusting for diapers when it comes to pants.

All finished, washed and shipped

Here is the quilt I made last month, with it's finished binding, washed and already in the mail. I absolutely love this quilt, and I received the nicest phone call from my friend tonight, thanking me for the quilt. She said it was her favorite baby gift, of course, she might be saying that to everyone she received a gift from, but I am going to believe her. So here is another look at the quilt in all of its crinkly glory.

It is hard to tell from the picture but the back is a navy blue with tiny white polka dots. Love it!


And here are some close ups of the cuteness.

Perhaps my all-time favorite diaper bag

I am getting caught up on blogging about some projects I finished in January, including this diaper bag. The request was for a bag that could go from carrying diapers to a work tote. I love the orange and gray print - it is so sophisticated and original. I might just have to go back to Cancun and pick up some more.

I put three pockets on the exterior, including the one below and one on either end.



The interior is lined with pockets on both sides and closes with a magnetic snap.


I also made a changing pad that fits easily in the bag and can be retired once the bag becomes a work tote.

A quilt for Julia

Sweet Julia was finally born last week and I got to meet her today. I brought along this quilt for her. It wasn't a real surprise since I had already assured her mother months ago that she would be getting a special quilt.

Since Julia's parents waited until she was born to find out if she was a girl or a boy, I decided to wait too. I wanted fabrics that were nice and bright. I fell hard for the prints with the robots and the planets, especially because they weren't only offered in traditional boy colors. The oranges and yellows make me so happy and I loved being able to work in some blues from my stash as an accent.

Now I jut have to patiently wait for some action shots.

I finally did it!

I am so happy! My awesome sofa was in desperate need of some recovering attention. It is 6 years old and had seen better days. It was sun damaged, stained and generally abused. The sofa frame was also scratched and worn, mostly from my evil, but so cute cat.

Here is a Before picture - it doesn't look too bad but that is because you can't see it too closely.


And here it is in all of it's finished glory!

I found the fabric online, actually from a link in my gmail account. I purposefully found very inexpensive fabric; it was about $5 a yard. I have never recovered a large piece of furniture and knew that it could go very bad and I didn't want to waste a lot of money if things didn't end well.

The whole thing was way easier than I expected. I did the cushions a couple of weeks ago and they worked out pretty well. I had a little trouble with the round corners of the seat cushions but they came out ok in the end.

As for the frame, I draped the fabric over the back and the sides and pinned in to the couch. I then basted the pieces together inside out to get the snug fit. I took the cover off, sewed over the basted stitching on my machine, flipped it right side out and checked the fit. It only took a couple of hours and I didn't cry at all.

In a fit of productivity, I also recovered a cushion with the white and brown geometric print to tie in the bench I recovered a while ago. All in all, I am a very happy gal.

The Secret Wedding Quilt, Part 1

So my absolutely adorable brother-in-law is getting married in May and I couldn't be happier with his choice of bride. She is so cute and just perfect for him. As much of a catch as he is, he totally scored with this lady, for sure.

And since my cute brother-in-law is also responsible for setting me up my my husband, I owe him, BIG TIME. I knew immediately that I would make them a quilt for their wedding present because I really wanted to give them something personal and from the heart. I decided on a Denyse Schmidt inspired design. It was her quilting book that sparked my brain and made me want to try out quilting. Initially, I shied away from doing something directly inspired by one of her quilts because I really wanted to push myself and see what I could come up with on my own first. Now that I have a few (cough cough) quilts under my belt, I am more comfortable cribbing her style.

Serendipity helped me pick out the colors for this quilt. I walked into my local fabric store and saw these two blue/greens leaning up again each other and that was all I needed. The combination reminds me of the ocean, which is so much a part of the happy couple's life.

Here are 2/3 of the blocks laid out on my bed. I have about 11 more to go before I can piece the top together.

The quilt is going to be a queen size (I know, I am scared about quilting something so big too) and each block will get cut down to 14 1/2 " square. If it works out that I can make them into rectangles, I might do that instead and skip adding a border on the top and bottom to fill out the quilt.
I didn't use a pattern when making the blocks. I cut the center squares first and then cut irregular strips selvage to selvage and worked with what I picked up. I love how wonderfully wonky they are, but as you can see, they don't lie perfectly flat. I am crossing my fingers that some spray starch will help me to get them flat enough that I can quilt it properly, but there will be a lot of praying to the sewing goddess on this one.

If anyone out in the internet has any suggestions, I am all ears.

Here is a nice flat block that shows of the colors. Too bad they aren't all like this.

Oh, this quilt is a surprise so if you know that happy couple, please help me keep this secret.

Too be continued...