Sewing again!

Last weekend, I got back to sewing. I did a couple of blocks for the ever-talented Lucinda (LucyEllen06 on flickr). She requested spikes and circles and I posted my first block a while ago.

Here's the second block. I made it before the wedding, but I just wasn't that happy with it... I think it's growing on me, but I wanted to do another one that I felt really good about.



For the final block, I did my first "6 minute circle". It took more than 6 minutes, but worked really well and I could definitely see getting much faster if I did a few more.



November/December is my turn for Blocks of a Feather and here is the selection of fabrics I'm sending out. The colors are so me and I'm really excited to see what these ridiculously talented ladies come up with.






And just for fun, here's a photo from when Jon and I were hanging out in Minnesota.

May Quilting Bee Round Up

I'm getting caught up. Here are the blocks I made for a couple of wonderful ladies.

First, for Traveling Threads, Sparrow wanted simple lollypop flowers or trees. I absolutely loved doing these. I think they might be my favorite block ever. Wouldn't they make great little wall hangings? Since I made them with fusible web and embellished them with embroidery, they would be easy for me to do in the car on some road trips I have coming up.





Then, for Snip.Sew.Send., Rebecca asked us to make blocks that had a pinwheel in the center of a log cabin. She sent each of us a set of monochromatic prints and I got orange. I'm really looking forward to seeing this one come together since her vision seems like it'll be great!



I'm a person who presses seams open or to the side depending on the project, but I was so glad to have pressed them open on those pinwheels. It took a little more time, but it reduced the bulk so much that it was completely worth it. I just hope Rebecca doesn't mind... isn't it funny the things we worry about when someone else is going to see the back?

A few more new books

After exchanging gifts with Jon's side of the family, here are a few new additions to my sewing library (which had 0 books before the holiday season):

Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing looks like it has some good projects that I've seen all over flickr and blogland.

One Yard Wonders looks amazing! It has 100 projects, from home dec to kid stuff to clothes to softies. I've already found a handful of projects that are now on the must-sew list. Great gift ideas too!


These are going to be good for finally making some of my own clothes. Although the cover is seriously outdated, Palmer's Fit for Real People is a great resource about how to alter patterns to get them to actually fit. I have all kinds of problems buying off-the-rack, so I would love to learn to make clothes that actually work for me.

Sew What! Skirts looks like a fun basic book that basic instructions for pieces that mix and match for different skirt types, like different cuts, closures and waistbands. There isn't much new information for me there, but it's nice to have it all in one place as a resource.

Spoiled Rotten!

Blogland and Flickr have really spoiled me recently. I'm always in awe of the generosity of this community.  First, I won a giveaway from Anne at Film and Thread and got this really cute cowboy fabric. Whoever is having a baby next should expect a quilt with this! I can't get over how cute the cowboys are!

As if the giveaway wasn't enough, she also sent this great embroidery pattern and thread! I'm just starting to try out embroidery and these patterns are perfect! I love the colors (could it be because they're so similar to the Neptune fabrics??)

 

I also won a giveaway over at By Small Means! April made coasters and was giving away the winner's favorite. I picked these ones and I'm really excited for them to come in the mail.

For Traveling Threads, I sent out Christmas fabrics and I've received almost all of my blocks! I need to make a couple and there's one set that's coming soon. I'm going to post more about that soon since I want to get some feedback and since I'm committed to finishing it for this Christmas season. I also joined LauraJ's Christmas Quiltalong to encourage me to keep at it.

The set of blocks I received from Leslie had an unexpected and wonderful extra! She made Jon and I ornaments for our tree. I think they're really cute and so thoughtful. I'm excited to put them up!

 

 

Thanks Blogland!! You've really spoiled me rotten!

Leaf Printing

originally posted by Anne at Film and Thread

After seeing Anne from Film and Thread's recent post that mentioned leaf printing, I knew I had to try it. She's got a great tutorial here.

I wish I would've known about this a couple weeks ago since most of the leaves have dropped and are fairly dry, but my friend Alyssa and I still had fun. She put a bunch of leaves really close together and I spread a few out. I like both looks and I'm thinking about making mine into some kind of wall hanging for the living room.

I loved the way the tape looked after we pulled it off.

 

Coming soon

It's almost October so I think it's okay for me to officially announce that Jon and I are going as Toad and Toadette (from Mario Kart and Mario Party) for Halloween and I'm starting to work on costumes.



I bought all the fabric I'm going to need last weekend. I'm going to make the vests by making a pattern from a shirt and use satin blanket binding for the edging. I'm planning on making myself a basic pink dress (it'll be my first dress, but it's Halloween so I'm not too worried if it doesn't come out perfect). Has anyone tried this pattern (Simplicity 2485)? I'm a bit busty for my waist size, but I figure this pattern should be easy to alter to make it work.



The hats are going to be the major challenge, and I'd love hear your ideas if you have any. My current plan is to cut a big circle and gather the edges of it. Then I'll attach the circle to a brimless hat (either from the dress pattern or a bucket hat from a store) and stuff it full. I also bought styrofoam balls for the pigtails. :)

Any ideas or advice??


P.S. Don't forget the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosting by Amy at Park City Girl. Her awesome festival last spring is what got me back into quilting and crafting.

Doll Quilt Swap

I hope I don't regret this decision, but I decided to join one more swap this summer (it's been a busy one for research and travel, limiting my sewing time). I was going to be patient and not sign up for the Doll Quilt Swap this round and wait for the next one when I'm not quite so busy, but all of you out there in blogland and flickrworld completely convinced me that it's going to be too much fun to pass up!

For this mini-quilt swap, the partners are secret so I thought I'd share I little of my likes here for my partner to "stubble" across :)



I'm really into color. I like colors that inspire and are either bright or in bold or cool combinations. I often try to do to much with color myself, but as you can see from my inspiration mosaic (and my flickr favs), I like a lot of different things (red/aqua, purples, blues, lights and darks, bright colors, lots of white, lots of brown...)

I lean towards the modern styles, so wonky can be good, but so can a traditional style done with modern fabrics/colors. I love when a person's personality shines through, so feel free to take risks and try something new.

I work most of my days in an office without windows and I'm hoping to add this little mini to the wall there to enjoy while I'm getting my work taken care of.

I'm so excited for this swap and can't wait to find out who I'm making a quilt for!

Color! In the Mail!

This has been a good week for getting awesome colorful things in the mail.

I won Upstate Lisa's giveaway and she sent this super cute package...



containing this amazing mini-quilt! I'm so excited to hang it on the wall. Not only is it fabulously inspiring, it's also wonderfully bright and cheerful. Lisa is also full of great advice and encouragement. Thank you so much!



I also got a Kona Color Card this week!



It's so big it hardly fits on my kitchen counter for a photo!



I was waiting on one from Hancock's but they've been on back order for a couple of months (and won't be getting more until August), but Pink Chalk Fabrics came to the rescue and had one in stock!! It looks like they have 30 in stock if you want one.



I'm already using it to plan out a summer quilt for Jon and I. We love our comforter, but in the summer, it can be a little much and a single sheet is too little. I'm thinking an ultra light quilt inspired by the ones below will be perfect! Click on the photo to see where these beauties came from.

Another block and a new project

I made another block for the Sew Kid at Heart Quilting Bee. This block is for Adrienne (aka Arnden's Space). She's making a quilt for her next little one. I love how bright the fabrics she sent are!



I used a paper piecing pattern called Hawaii. It seemed perfect since I wanted to do a star-type block and I've had a bit of a Hawaii obsession lately... I just really want to go! The "Quilter Cache" site is an awesome resource and you can even search for patterns by the size of the finished block, which is great for bees.

I'll probably make a second block, but first I have to figure out something else fun for these great fabrics!

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Jon and I are planning a new project to make together. It's going to be a baby quilt for his sister. She's expecting a girl!



We're going to use the Alexander Henry 2D Zoo for the backing and the appliques from the book on the top. The plan is to do something that has a hint of pink, but is just generally bright and fun!

Favorite Quilting Tutorials

Here are some of my favorite quilting-related tutorials. I'll probably keep updating the list as I find things and I'll put a link to this post on my sidebar. It might be helpful to some of you, but it will definitely be helpful to me to have things sorted by topic. Any you would add?

Freestyle Alphabet: Quiltville Custom Quilting
Interlocking Pinwheels: Two Dogs and a Quilt
Whirlygiggles (Scrapy Cartwheels): Greeting Arts
Wonky Houses: Quiltville Custom Quilting
Wonky Stars: Silly BooDilly
Pieced Curves/Circles using a glue stick: Dioramarama
Five-pointed Stars: Liesbos Quilts
Disappearing Nine Patch: Just Pure Lovely
Spiderweb Block: Quilt It

Foundation Paper Piecing:
Log Cabin Paper Piecing with Interfacing: Melly and Me
Log Cabin Freezer Paper Piecing: Upstate Lisa
Freezer Paper Piecing: Twiddletails
String Quilt Block Paper Piecing: Film in the Fridge
Spiderweb Block Paper Piecing: Dancydoodle
Paper Pieced Mushroom and Gnomes: Artisania part 1 part 2
Twisted Log Cabin: Quilting Passion

Appliques:
Sketchy Stiching: Blooming Workshop
Machine applique: Oh Fransson for Sew Mama Sew Part 1 Part 2
Needleturn hand applique using freezer paper: Disdressed
Needleturn hand applique: Applique Today Part 1 Part 2
Blanket stitch hand applique: De ponto em no
Making perfect circles: Naptime Quilter

Quilt Patterns:
Simple Baby Quilt with Small Wonky Squares: Manhattan Craft Room's Lisa Quilt
Zig Zag Quilt: A Quilt is Nice
Confetti Quilt: Lady Harvatine

Quilt Labels (using freezer paper): Crazy Mom Quilts
Quilt-As-You-Go: Welsh Quilter
Quilt Binding: Oh Fransson (the rest of the quilt along is really great too!)
Making Continuous Bias Tape: Indie House
Mitered Corners: Jaybird Quilts

...and I'm back!

I'm back from my sister's wedding and it was a smashing success! I had a great time and my sister looked beautiful.



She also asked me to turn this absolutely beautiful dress into something. We're thinking that it would make a beautiful quilt since she doesn't want to hold on to it as a dress. Any of you have experience or ideas of what to do with this great fabric?



My mom also offered that we can use her wedding dress (that my sister and I have NO way of fitting into, and haven't since we were teens) as part of the quilt too. It's a very intimidating project, but one that I think is a great way to save and cherish the dresses rather than have them sit in closets.

Since I've been home this weekend, I actually finished a project. I've been wanting a kitchen apron for a while and when I saw the pattern for the Emmeline apron, I knew that was what I wanted. I learned a bunch making this pattern, like how to gather and make bias tape. I really like how it turned out and since it's reversible, it was two-for-one. I can't decide which side I like better!
One side has forks and spoons...


and the other side has plates with a couple small forks and knives. :)


Finally, I got my STUD (Swap Til Your Drop) partner and I'm really excited about starting that project. The theme this month is alphabet mania and I got assigned the letter Q. My mini quilt has to incorporate that letter however I want. After perusing crosswordsolver.com, I have some good ideas that I think my partner will like. We'll see how that goes...

Holding Pattern

I didn't forget about my blog, but rather, my projects are all in a holding pattern. The pink and green baby quilt is waiting on a new presser foot (I should get it this weekend) and the Bots and Rockets quilt is waiting on having time to finish getting fabric. But I'm excited about what I have so far. I'm thinking that I'll add a lighter blue solid, a green solid and a yellow solid.


I joined a mini quilt swap on flickr (Swap Til You Drop) for May and I'm excited about the theme: alphabet mania. We'll see what letter I end up with. It will definitely be a fun project since it has to be smaller than 15" square.

I also got some fabulous new Michael Miller fabric that I'm thinking will turn out to be a new bag. I love the colors!


I was out of town last weekend visiting Jon's dad and I'm headed to Minnesota for my sister's wedding this weekend (which I'm really excited for), but I am itching to get going on these projects.