Feb
6
What else is new right? Somehow, once again I’ve managed to completely over-commit. I suppose it’s good that it’s been nearly a year since this has happened, but for now, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to come up for air any time soon.
I’m obviously not blogging much, so what am I doing? Mostly a whole lot of nothing. Well, that’s not true. I’m procrastinating. A lot. Avoiding my long list of to dos. Last week, I managed to do no sewing at all in the evenings. I just sat on my butt and watched, House, Alcatraz, Fringe, Merlin and several other nerdy shows that I love so much, but sewing… or even thinking about sewing? No.
I did make these cute little bags for my sweet Hazie’s little odds and ends. I do love Jeni’s bag pattern as a quick gratification project. And I love that it’s using up fabric from my stash. I’m trying to pare down my fabric some because now that I’ve not got a whole room to myself, three huge boxes of yardage + a large bin of scraps and another bin of fat quarters is a bit much for the tiny loft/tv room. Ok, not really, I just want to use it up so I won’t feel so guilty when I buy more fabric.
What should I be doing? Well, the long list consists of things like:
1) Finish the Firebird Quilt – This one is due at the beginning of April for a fundraising auction for Alexis’ school. I actually started it last spring, but then got sidetracked — by oh a thousand other things — and it sat in the corner until recently when I picked it up again and realized that the quilting I’d started on it had caused the applique to pucker horribly. So what did I do? Yeah. You guessed it. Picked all of the (hand) stitching out. Boo. Then, I decided to stich in the ditch on the the applique (as if applique even really has ditches…) and we know how good I am at that… not good at all, but apparently getting better, because if you squint your eyes and turn your head 90 degrees you can’t see the stitching that climbs out of the ditch at all… mostly because you’ll be looking somewhere else entirely.
2) Finish this quilt for a dear friend – Another quilt that’s been in the works for a while. Admittedly, I’ve made progress since these photos were taken (I actually quilted the whole thing last night), but I need to get this one bound and photoed and sent off to it’s new home soon!
3) For the Love of Solids swap — I decided this year I was going to try swapping again. My last few attempts haven’t turned out so good. I either got zero feedback on the items I sent (which I thought were really awesome!) or have not received my items. I have high hopes for this swap though. It’s very active. So active that I’m having trouble keeping up! I hope my partner loves her items, though, I’ve only finished one so far and have only an inkling on the second item. Here is the sneak preview I posted ont he flickr group, it seems to be well received so far!
4) do. Good Stitches — This bee is not a chore at all. Two blocks per month is pretty simple to whip out. However, I am up to be the quilter/leader in March, and I still have no idea what quilt block I will choose for our group! I still need to make my February blocks as well.
5) Curves Class with Rachel @ Stitched in Color! – I think I might be some sort of Rachel Hauser groupy. do. Good Stitches is her brainchild, and now she’s come up with this (what looks to be awesome!) class for a bunch of us to improve our curvy piecing. I’m really looking forward to it (today is the first “real” day of class!) for the camaraderie, but also to hopefully get past my fear of drunkard’s path blocks (and other wonderfully curvy quilty blocks). I just hope I can make myself find the time to get some of the projects done.
6) Pattern Writing — I’m working on a pattern for one of my past projects. And that’s about all I can say right now. But it’s a big one, and taking a lot more time than I anticipated. I hope it’s worth it!
And those are just the items highest on my list. My goals for February as it were. I also want to actually blog about this stuff as it happens. I hope I don’t get too overwhelmed and just shut down completely. Last week was a good break, but I still worry that I’ll not be able to keep up, and instead of only leaving a couple of things out, I will just give up on everything… So, wish me luck!
Jan
23
Has another month already gone by (well almost)? That means I have another set of blocks for the DREAM circle at do. Good Stitches. I’m really enjoying this process so far. Whipping out two blocks (so far all in simple techniques) from scraps is really satisfying. We’ll see if I feel the same way after it’s my month to host… hehehehe.
This month Laura was our host and she chose these cute coin blocks based on this tutorial on Moda’s Bakeshop. I even had some of that sugar pop fabric left from Alexis’ quilt!
Once again, since our charity (Project Night Night) prefers baby quilt sized quilts, each member is creating one girl and one boy block so that two quilts can be made for donation.
I can’t wait to see these all sewn up and quilted. I’m sure they are just going to be adorable!
Jan
9
Summer Hours
Filed Under Quilting, Sewing | 8 Comments
Summer has been over for a (long) while now, but that didn’t stop Saturday from being an absolutely gorgeous day. But for the positioning of the sun in the sky, it easily could have been an early summer (you know, that’s in March in central Texas) day. A perfect day for a photo shoot outdoors.
Being lazy (ok, I admit to not wanting to have to deal with the baby while trying to protect my quilt and take photos of it at the same time) I opted to set up the shots out on Alexis’ playscape while he napped. This is the second time I’ve used it as a back drop and I really like the weathered wood against the fresh clean quilt.
This little hourglass quilt was made from the cutest teensy charm pack of Moda’s Summer House which I received in my Sewing Summit swag bag and it took mere hours to whip up. Hence the name “Summer Hours“. The white is Kona White that I had leftover from January’s do. Good Stitches blocks (which are still not sewn… hehehe). This quilt is tiny at about 16″ x 20″. The perfect size to drag into work and hang on my oh so blank wall.
It’s a shame that you can’t see it well here, but the backing fabric is (I think) aqua Sketch from Timeless Treasures. It’s a very fine crosshatch pattern that I am just in love with. You can however see very well the criss-cross quilting on the back. I’m still really new to machine quilting, and after sewing up the scarf for my mother in law using my walking foot, I decided to try using it for straight line quilting. Now, I’m very averse to change for some reason, but I’m now kicking myself for never trying the walking foot before. It. is. a.maz.ing. Definitely will be using it for more machine quilting.
The only thing I don’t love about this quilt is the binding. It’s some nondescript solid gray that I had a fat quarter of. (I hate it when I get the fat quarter without the selvege identifying it, don’t you?) I think it’s really just too pale. I had another gray, a patterned fabric, that I considered using, but decided against it because I didn’t want it to be too busy. Now I wonder if I should have gone with my instinct.
Anyway, the bright colors and fun pattern at least lighten up my days a bit. The “cold” short days are getting to me and making it hard to stay positive. (Well, that and the complete lack of sleep courtesy of a baby who cannot self soothe for anything.) I enjoyed piecing this quilt tremendously, and in fact, I let it sit on my chair upstairs in it’s quilted, but unbound state for a couple of days because I love the look of a freshly quilted and trimmed up ready for binding quilt.
I’m noticing lately, that I’ve been pushing myself to try new things. Six months ago I would have scoffed at the idea of making a mini-quilt — but now I see the value in these little fast quilts. Not to mention the (almost) instant gratification. I’ve tried new ways to cut HSTs, I’m using my walking foot, tried my hand at big stitch quilting (so much faster and easier on the fingers than traditional hand quilting) and I credit all of this change to the amazing online sewing community. I know most of these women don’t even know it, but they’re inspiring people like me to try new things every day.
Ok, now that I’ve completely gone off course, and what’s worse gotten all mushy, I’ll leave you with a question. What have you tried new lately? or if you rather, What else should I try that I’m missing out on?
Linking up with Fabric Tuesdays.
Jan
6
do. Good Stitches — December
Filed Under Giving, Quilting, Sewing | Leave a Comment
I’m so far behind for December because I was trying so hard to get Alexis’ quilt done that I had no time for anything else. Luckily, Anna (who must have some sort of super psychic sense about such things) chose a really simple — yet fun — block for the DREAM circle’s December blocks (say that five times fast!)
Postage stamp blocks are just classic and simple and fun… or at least fun for people like me who prefer picking out (and petting) fabrics to actually cutting and sewing. I whipped these two up in less than an hour (not including fawning over fabric and cutting squares).
It’s coming soon. March is my month to choose the quilt and I have no idea what I’m going to pick. What else is new right?
Jan
2
The Fat Quarter Shop (from here in Austin! — ok, Manchaca, but let’s not get picky) has a regular feature of a Blogger’s choice of fat quarters. They ask famous bloggers to choose a fat quarter bundle for other sewers to buy. It’s really really neat to see all the cool combos that the other bloggers come up with.
Well, Laura over at Quokka Quilts thought it would be neat if a not-so famous blogger could get his or her own FQ bundle. So she’s hosting a linky part of blogger’s choice fat quarter bundles comprised of 12 prints and 3 solids, and what’s more, the Fat Quarter Shop is going to actually give away a bundle of half yards to one lucky blogger. Wow. That’s super generous… didn’t Christmas just end?
Erin, of Two More Seconds and Ali at a²(w) are hosting a Tangerine Tango quilt challenge because Pantone’s color of 2012 is Tangerine Tango. Which is really more red than orange, but the challenge is open to all oranges. It might be tough, I don’t have a whole lot of orange fabrics to start with, so I thought it’d be fun to make a palette of nothing but different oranges.
The Quokka Quilts challenge is open until January 15, so if you want to, you still have time to enter. The entries are all so fabulous. :)