A Little Sewing

I have managed to get in a bit of sewing lately. Mostly because one of my projects has a deadline.

One of my family members (well, my husbands family, but she's still like family to me) is participating in Relay For Life for the second year in a row. Last year she walked on another persons team, and this year she decided to form her own team. They have done really well with their fundraising, and have been working really hard to try to earn as much for the cause as they can. We all know someone who has been affected by cancer so it's a very important event for many people. When she asked me if I would be willing to make a quilt for them to raffle off, I didn't hesitate. I also wasn't aware that I would be moving though so that has been a bit of a hiccup in my plans to get it finished in time. Luckily, she gave me 3 months notice! I have a few more weeks to work on it and it is slowly but surely coming along.

This is where I was when I last took a photo. I now have sashing between the blocks on the four bottom rows and those rows are all sewn together. That means my top if halfway completed! The pattern I used for this quilt is called Pow - Wow by CluckCluckSew. All the fabrics are various lines (but all in the same color family) from Denyse Schmidt. I love how all her lines seem to play so well together. I wanted the quilt to appeal to a broad range of people. Not just women and not just people who love traditional quilt designs. I feel like younger people - and maybe even men - would be willing to buy a raffle ticket to win this quilt. People who are less likely to already own a handmade quilt, you know?

Now, if you are anything like me, you tend to get bored during a project that takes awhile. For me that is dangerous because I always decide to start something new in the middle of what I am already working on!

The other day I made this Sidekick Tote (yes, another Noodlehead pattern. I'm addicted.) I used a black and white stripe for the body of the bag, Constellations by Lizzy House for the pockets, and a bit of Amy Butler dots for some homemade bias tape. Y'all, that part was hard. I've never made bias tape before. And if I never do it again that would be just fine by me.

Another thing I have been itching to try - like, for a few YEARS now - is paper piecing. When the Summer Sampler Sew - Along by Ellison Lane Quilts started, I wanted to jump in SO bad! Those little popsicles! Anyway... I needed a bit of instruction since I had no clue how to even begin paper piecing (other than printing the pattern). I tried the quick paper piecing tutorial that Jennifer(aka Ellison Lane Quilts) put together and I made this:

 I know it's just one tiny 6 inch block, but I did it! I was over the moon excited about this. Not because this little block is particularly striking and overly complicated, but because learning this new technique has opened up so many other possibilities for me in the things I can make. Now I never have to pass up a super cute pattern because it lists paper piecing as one of the techniques used in it's construction. Yay!

Out With the Old, In With the New

I've had this quilt for a long time. I made it around the beginning of 2011 and it has always been one of my favorite quilts. It has been sitting in my studio, awaiting the day it would be sent to a new home. Finally, last week, it sold. I was happy to have sold it, I mean that's why I made it. But it really was kind of a bittersweet moment wrapping it up and putting it in the box. The lady who bought it is giving it to her daughter-in-law who is a photographer. She plans to use it as a backdrop for her photos! So that's exciting!

Now that something old has gone, I have some new things to share as well.

Our neighborhood has a huge annual yard sale. It was absolutely the craziest thing I've ever seen. People were BBQ-ing, selling nachos, popcorn, drinks... It was like a 3 block long street fair. It was supposed to start at 8:00am and there were people here at 7:00am trying to go through our garage as we were setting up. You couldn't even drive down our street, it was so packed with cars. I went to one of the neighbors sales and saw a sewing table. You know, the kind that has the drop down shelf for your machine to sit on? I measured it, and measured my sewing space. I almost didn't go back but at the end of the day I went down and it was still there. I decided then that it was meant to be mine. I spoke to my neighbor who told me the table belonged to her mother and she also had a Bernina. I gave her $20 (that's right, I said $20) and took it home.

It is absolutely a perfect fit. It was made for my room! There is another drop down for a serger too, but since I don't have one my hubby is going to make a little piece to fit in there so it covers the hole and makes extra table surface.

Also, I've been making all kinds of little zipper pouches the last couple of days. I really like how they're turning out. I have a feeling these will be my go to gifts for Christmas.

Swooning (Slowly) Along

You may or may not recall my post awhile ago about the practice Swoon block I made, but I have since cut up all of my Meadowsweet fabrics by Sandie Henderson and have pieced together two of the four blocks I plan to  make. I know 4 blocks doesn't sound like a lot, but each block in this quilt pattern is a whopping 24" square!

I'm not super happy with the first one. There isn't quite enough contrast between the two fabrics to make the pattern really stand out. I like how the second one turned out much better.

It was a bit on the windy side here today, so getting this picture was more difficult than you might imagine.

If you really want to be inspired to take the plunge and start one of these beautiful quilts, check out this Flickr group for some serious eye candy!

Festival of Half-Square Triangles

I have been so excited for this linky party! I went to a birthday party recently and I needed a gift to take with me. I found this tutorial awhile ago and thought a table runner with these blocks would make the perfect present. It was also about that time that I began seeing Megan's posts about the Festival of Half-Square Triangles linky party. What great timing!!!

I had a small fat quarter bundle of Kate Spain's Good Fortune fabric that I used for this project, along with some Kona solids. The polka dot backing/binding is from the Aunt Edna line by Denyse Schmidt.

 As per usual with HST's, I started with a bunch of squares (for measurements to make your own, check the tutorial HERE on the Freshly Pieced blog).

Here are my finished HST's. I then sewed them together to start forming the blocks.

I wasn't sure how to quilt this one (I usually become stumped at this part of the process) so I turned to twitter for some suggestions. I got a few suggestions for straight lines so decided to go with that. I did them on the diagonal to go with the lines of the fabrics.

I debated whether or not to do more quilting with diagonal lines going the other way for a criss-cross effect, but that would have been way too much.

This is the finished product and I absolutely love how it turned out. The birthday girl liked it as well. I hope you do too!

Go check out Megans blog to see all of the other wonder HST creations, and if you have a HST project you've made recently, link up so we can see yours too!

Gettin' my Swoon on

I have had the Swoon quilt pattern by Camille Roskelley for a long time. I have been rather intimidated by it, but I finally gave into the Swoon.

A Flickr group was started awhile back for a Swoon-a-long by the lovely Miss Katy. Seeing all of the finished blocks and beautiful quilts gave me the push I needed to get started. I have a big empty wall over my stairs and I thought a smaller version of the Swoon in bright, happy colors would look great there. This pattern is great because it gives you the number of pieces you need for just one block. Most quilt patterns just say to "cut _ pieces of color #1" etc... to make the whole quilt.

I got out a couple of fat quarters and decided to make a practice block first just to see if I could do it without too much frustration. After a few hours (yes, it took me that long) I had this beautiful block: 

It was time consuming, and I did get confused quite often with the color 1 and color 2. But that was my fault for not paying close enough attention. This block is huge. Each one measures 24" square. I'm going to use this practice block as a mini quilt.

I gathered together my bright, cheerful fabrics and I'm all ready to go!

Kids Quilts

A few months ago my husband got a job transfer back to our hometown. All of our family and many of our friends still live there so we were pretty excited when we found out we would be going home. My husband has been living with his parents for the last couple of months and it has been hard to be apart. Originally my plan was to let the kids finish out the school year and we would join him there in June. I promised the kids that I would make quilts for them before the move to help spruce up their new bedrooms. Well, things have not gone according to my plan, and we are also anxious to get settled there and begin our new life. Instead of the 6 months I planned to have, it could be as little as 1 or 2.

I didn't want to go back on my word though. Just because I don't have as much time as I thought I would, doesn't mean I had to give up having new quilts for them. So I decided to go with something extremely simple.

I chose a layer cake (a stack of 42 - 10 inch squares) for each child. I tried to choose ones that matched their style and personality. No cutting was involved in the making of these quilts! So super easy! I simply sewed the 10 inch squares together into rows. I still plan to add borders to make them a bit bigger.

This first one is for my son, Ben. It may look familiar since I just made a jelly roll quilt from the same fabrics for my husband. I thought it would be cute for the two men of the house to have matching quilts. The fabric I used is Reunion by Sweetwater.

This one is for Irene. She is at that age where she loves all things girly and cute. The prints in this line (Farm Fresh) are girly and cute, but not too girly that she won't still love it in a few years.

Alice is a very feminine young lady. I chose Ruby for her quilt. These are all her favorite colors and the prints are perfectly suited to her taste.

Then we a quilt for my oldest daughter, Sara. She loves bright, fun colors and modern design. As soon as I saw Half Moon Modern, I knew it was right for her.

I still have a lot to do to get these finished, but the quilting will be very simple as well so I am confident that that they will be done with plenty of time to spare! These have been so fun to make and I am feeling quite a sense of accomplishment at finishing these tops in just a few days time. Quilts don't have to be fancy to be loved. I know my kids will cherish these always no matter how simple they are.

A Christmas Quilt

That's right, a Christmas quilt. I know Christmas has passed but I'm still working on this one. I wasn't completely slacking or being lazy about finishing on time (as is usually the case). There's a story behind it!

My kids love handmade things and they love giving gifts. My oldest daughter came up with the idea that we - myself, my husband, and all 4 kids - draw names and have a handmade secret Santa exchange. Now my husband is one of those very picky types. I never give him anything because the response is always "That's great, dear. Thanks." (please note the lack of exclamation points!) If one of the kids got his name though, they could draw him a picture and he'd be completely happy with it. So guess who ends up drawing old grumpy pants name? Yep. Me. So then I'm stressing over what the heck to make him. He isn't really the kind of person who appreciates handmade stuff. Or if he is, he's not good at showing it (this is a hint to him in case he's reading).

I was making a lot of other gifts this year so I didn't think too much about his gift until, BAM! 2 days before Christmas I had a panic attack because I hadn't made a thing! I loaded up the kids and we rushed to the fabric store. I was in that store poring over little fat quarter bundles and charm packs, trying to think of something quick and easy. I literally wanted to cry right there in the middle of the store. And then I saw a few jelly rolls tucked away in a corner. They had one of the new Reunion fabric by Sweetwater. As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to make him a jelly roll race quilt. I recently made one for my grandma and it came together really quickly. Two days before Christmas? I could do it!

Turns out I couldn't. I got the top done (minus the borders) in time so he could have something to unwrap. He wasn't really impressed with it. BUT!!! It is now completely quilted and I think he will love it *fingers crossed*. I think it was just hard for him to picture it finished.

I used a grey Kona solid for the borders, and the backing and binding are from the Hometown fabric line, also by Sweetwater. The two lines go together pretty well, I think. I haven't stitched the binding to the back completely yet, but I'm working on that now.

He'd better love it. I want to see him jump up and down and do a happy dance. Hey, a girl can dream!

Mini Quilt Challenge

This weekend there is something exciting going on. A mini quilt challenge on amylouwho's blog! I REALLY love mini quilts! Something about the instant gratification (well, more instant than a bed quilt that is). I have been getting ready for a craft fair so I didn't have a lot of time to put together a new quilt for this challenge. I have several mini quilts that I have made recently though so I chose one of those.

I used the churn dash pattern for this mini quilt. The blocks are each 6 inches with a small border. The finished size is 15" x 15".

Funny thing is that I have no idea what fabrics were used for the pink, and the floral borders. I used scraps that I got from a friend and I loved how they all look togther. They grey print is Sunkissed by Sweetwater as is the binding.

For the backing I used a print from Tula Pink's Parisville line, another of my absolute favorites.

I chose to do very simple in-the-ditch quilting as to not distract from the blocks themselves.

I really love this mini quilt so much. It shows that a traditional block can be made to look modern and you can mix lines! Some people are afraid of mixing lines, I think, but you should have no fear!

Please hop over to the Mini Quilt Challenge and enter your own mini quilt. It's open all weekend and she has some really great prizes too. Thanks so much for visiting!

Birthday Quilt

Next weekend is my grandmas birthday. My grandma is the sweetest lady I have ever known, and I love her dearly. I have made many quilts over the last several years but have never made one for her.

A few months ago I put together a Jelly Roll Race quilt top. I used Shangri-La by 3 Sisters. I had the jelly roll for a long time and loved the colors in the fabric, but never could figure out what to make with it. After I put the top together I folded it up and it sat on my shelf for quite some time.

Once I finally got started quilting it, the entire time I kept thinking of my grandma. The colors in these fabrics reminded me of her and how she decorated her home. I had meant to finish up this quilt and list it for sale, but I couldn't help but feel this quilt was meant for her.

I finished attaching the binding last night while watching 'V for Vendetta' one of my favorite movies. It was November 5th after all so I kind of had to watch it.

Here it is all finished - please ignore the fold lines. I still need to wash it, but it will be all ready to go this week. Happy birthday, Grandma. I love you!

Two New Quilts

Even though I haven't been around as much lately, I really have been keeping myself busy! I promise! I even have proof to show you that I have been doing things.

I have had this cheater print by Mo Bedell from her Party Dress line for quite some time. I started a baby quilt with it awhile ago and it sat in my WIP pile for several months. A few days ago I decided to take out all of the quilting stitches and start over. I really felt like it needed a border. Yesterday, after I was more than halfway finished with the quilt, I hopped on Pinterest during a little sewing break and I saw a quilt that was almost the same! I was upset by this. I was afraid people would think that I had seen it and copied someone else's idea. I have certainly made quilts from kits before and things that are definitely not original, but not to sell. And I planned to sell this one...

I finished it and I have to say, I really, really like it. And is it so far fetched that with a panel like this there are probably many quilts out there that look very similar to this anyway? That's kind of the nature of panels I think. I added a pretty border and quilted flowers on it...

And I backed it with a super soft vintage sheet, with the sweetest, most dainty little pink and yellow flowers on it...

I also finished another quilt that has been on my list for SO long. I had a charm pack of Sherbet Pips sitting on my shelf for what seemed like forever. It was high time I used it, don't you think? I posted a crappy picture from my phone a few days ago, but I have a couple better ones here (found my secret battery stash for my camera!)

I did a scrappy binding. The solid colors I used are all Kona cottons. 

I pieced the back in an attempt to add interest. Not sure if that worked out so well.

So that brings me to my questions for you. Have you ever made a quilt thinking you were so clever and saw another almost just like it? And, how long do you think is an acceptable amount of time for a fabric line to sit before you use it? Is there a point where the fabric is no longer "cool" (so last year, you know) and deemed unusable?

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

I'm still here...

Life has been busy and crappy. I plan to get back into the swing of things and the best way to do that is to just jump in, right? So even though I have nothing much to say or share, I thought I would a least post a little hello and say I'll be back to normal soon (I hope).

I did finally use my Sherbet Pips charm pack and some scraps sent to me by my friend Sharon to make this baby quilt. I feel like I'm a year late to the party =)

I apologize for the crappy cell phone pic, but the batteries are dead in my good camera at the moment...

Anyway, I'm hoping life stops being a pain soon. When it comes right down to it, I just have to keep reminding myself that the only thing that really matters is this:

Canning Day

I don't consider myself to be very domestic. But every once in awhile I get the urge to be Suzy Homemaker. My husband and kids all know that isn't really going to happen, but I like to fantasize every now and again that I am June Cleaver reincarnated.

I have had the inkling (and the supplies) to learn how to do some canning for quite some time. I am really interested in sustainability and living off the land. I want a huge garden, and some animals. I do have some space here, but our soil is incredibly rocky and it's hard to garden in it. I am thinking of having my husband build some raised garden beds for me so I can use good soil. He also ok'd the idea of getting some chickens possibly this spring. So I guess I don't really want to be a homemaker. I want to be a farmer!

Anyway, over the summer we went to visit family in Yakima, WA and there are lots of places to get great deals on fresh fruit around there. I stopped at a fruit stand and they had a 25 pound box of peaches for $10.95. Seriously! I couldn't pass that up. I brought home a box and the next day I began the canning adventure. I also got 25 pounds of apples and nectarines.

I spent nearly the entire day peeling and cutting peaches. My kitchen looked like someone had been massacred in it. I made an absolute mess!

Canning, it seems, is much more difficult than it looks. But I did it and by the end of day I had six quart sized jars sitting on my counter with the lids making little popping sounds.

After my canning experience, I decided to finally make the quilt that I had planned with some fabric I got from Connecting Threads (which, by the way, makes all their fabric in the USA made from cotton grown in the USA) called "Canning Day". It seems too perfect not to, right?

It is a bit farther along now. I have the entire top complete. I need to eventually get some backing fabric so I can quilt her up!

So tell me, have you ever canned? What are your favorite things to make? And am I crazy or has anyone else made a quilt to go with another project like this before?

State Fair Time

I have always been hesitant to "show off" my work to people. It's not something that comes naturally to me. I have been working on that a lot lately using this blog, twitter, and flickr to show photos of my completed quilts and other projects. It's one thing for me though, to show a photo online and to have people say "oh, how pretty!" and something else altogether to willingly bring in something I have made and have it judged. The thought of someone judging my work terrifies me to no end.

Last year I had a conversation with someone who said to me "you need to put your work out there where people can see it and touch it. You need to be open to criticism and be open to getting you feelings hurt in order to succeed. If you never put yourself out there, no one will ever see how wonderful you are." Granted, this person was a family member so they have to say I'm wonderful, but his words really struck a chord with me. He encouraged me to enter a quilt in my local fair.

Here's the thing about my local fair. It's the Puyallup fair. It's the largest fair in Washington state. It's a tad bit, um, intimidating. I talked to my friend Lizze (who also happens to be my biggest fan) and she encouraged me further. I decided to go ahead and jump in with both feet. I knew right away which quilts I wanted to enter.

I spent the day yesterday hand-stitching labels and hanging sleeves to the back of two fairly large quilts. After church this morning I drove the few blocks to the fairgrounds and my stomach started to knot up. I remembered the message from service and played it over in my mind "Only a fool would wait for the perfect time". I bit my lip, grabbed my bag, and went inside. Phew.

Entry #1 Urban Cabin

Entry #2 Royal Garden

Now comes the nail biting and the anxiousness of waiting to hear how they did. I'll have to keep myself plenty busy so I'm not constantly thinking about it. It's a good thing I have so much sewing to do!

Getting Back to Work

I was out of town this last weekend (Yes. Again. It's getting ridiculous, isn't it?). I was house sitting for my in-laws while they went to Canada. Really I was just playing gardener for a few days, which I didn't mind one bit. The weather was perfect and it was a really relaxing weekend. I have been so behind on my sewing so I decided to bring my machine along and a few projects to work on.

The first thing I needed to finish was my little stack of trees. These are for the latest swap for the Misfit Quilters group. I really love how they turned out. I can't wait to get my trees in the mail to put my little quilt together! I used one of my favorite fabrics from the Sunkissed line by Sweetwater fabrics, and Kona snow for the background.

The next project that was overdue was for my friend, Sharon. She needed some people to help out making some blocks for a Project Linus quilt. She designed her own blocks with a tutorial here. These turned out really cute. I'm excited to see the entire quilt top to see how all of the donated blocks come together. Sharon has a fun blog that I really enjoy reading. Go check out all that's going on over at Craizee Corners.

I have been working on a sample quilt for the shop using Tula Pink's newest line Prince Charming. I got the quilting finished over the weekend and got the binding done last night. This was the first quilt I made using my new Bernina. The BSR foot made quilting this so much easier! It was a bit difficult to get used to, and I'm still learning, but I love it.

It is also almost time for the kids to go back to school. September 1st is the big day over here. I don't get why they'd start the school year on the Thursday before Labor day. They go for two days and then have a 3-day weekend... Anyway, I like to send gifts for the teachers with my kids on the first day. Apples are the usual thing and I'm unsure where that tradition started. I think I'll have to find out about that. I decided that teachers are probably sick to death of getting apples so I chose to make something else. Our school mascot is the Scottie Dog. I have been making these little guys for the kids to bring. I hope they are original enough to not be tossed in a drawer and forgot about until it's time to clean the desks out next June.

I am feeling pretty accomplished these last couple days, despite several hours of car travel and having a day job. I have two new quilts to list in the Etsy shop tomorrow too! Yay me! Now if I could always be this productive...