pillows, a skirt, and a list

Is it really Wednesday today? I thought for some reason that it was Tuesday.  But Wednesday is a good day.  

My mom is moving into her new house next month and we're all excited for her.  She's been living in an old drafty house for the last bunch of years so this is a big step up for her. She's been busy choosing paint, light fixtures, flooring, curtains - all the fun stuff that comes with a new house.  

I thought her living room pillows needed an update as well, cuz, you know, they just won't match the 'new' anymore.  

So she and I went out to Fabricland last week and she picked out some fabrics for me to play with.  Her living room area is a cream colour with a rusty red/orange accent wall, so these fabrics fit perfectly.  She also didn't want complicated piecing or quilting on the covers, just simple stripes.  

First I did simple vertical stripes. 

Then I tried some angled stripes, but I think I like the vertical better.  I have three more covers to make and about three weeks left to do them in.  

I'll make it.  They'll get done since they're pretty simple and I can finish one up in an evening.

They will all have a hidden zipper closure on the back.  They are so easy to do I wish I had discovered earlier how to do the zipper thing for pillows.  It turns out way nicer than envelope style I think because with envelope style, sometimes the opening can gape just a little and it doesn't look as neat.  I followed this tutorial at Sew Mama Sew.

In the clothing department, I had an order for a skirt to finish up.  Just got it done this morning and I love how it turned out! 

It's the first time I made this pattern and I love it.  I might have to make it a regular in my shop, if there's enough interest.  

The pattern is the Aubrey Skirt from Sadie James Patterns on Etsy.  The only change I made was to the waistband.  Instead of measuring the waist and cutting the elastic for a personalized fit, I made it fully adjustable with buttonhole elastic.  For the rest, the pattern was super easy to follow and it only took me an evening and a morning to make.

For the next skirt though, I might use less than 40" widths worth of fabric as that makes it almost a little too full. 

I was also thinking the other night about what I all want to have finished before this baby comes.  

Ummm, my list is a little bigger than I thought!  Not bigger with stuff, just the stuff on it is big.

Just in case this one is a boy, I wanted to have a boy quilt done.  All I have right now is the fabric on a stack.  

I wanted to have the hexie playmat done, but it is being woefully ignored, for the past few months in fact.  I have a few hexies yet to piece on to the top and then I have to make a little 'quilt' out of it.

I want to have the Hexy MF top all pieced together.  I am almost done that, just have to put two more rows together and the hexy part is done.

And lastly, I wanted to have a toddler sized quilt for D finished so that her 'big' bed might be a little more attractive.  

At the rate I'm going, only the Hexy MF top will get done.  

*sigh*

No matter, I would rather the baby come a little sooner than get done all the things on my list.

Canadian Blogathon!

 

 Hello to all who are here via Blogathon Canada hosted by Sew Sisters Quilt Shop! 

I'm Deanna and I really still don't consider myself a quilter as I haven't finished one big quilt yet.  Almost, but not quite.

I don't know what to call myself then as I do play around with quilting and paper piecing and all that other quilty stuff.  I started with sewing clothes for my little girl and from there I discovered Flickr and well, that was the end of my 'lone' sewing!  I found so many inspiring quilters and soon became a blog follower and then a blogger.

So welcome to my little space.

It also happens to be Wednesday... but I have no new WIP's, only one big continuing one.

Hexy MF.

My carpet is not kid proof and little D got hold of chalk paint one day... hence the black smudge.

The bigger this top gets, the harder it gets to piece!  It takes up my whole lap and it a little difficult to manage when I have to match up sides without having them pull away.

And I know I said no more swaps until after the baby, but really, I can't not sew something!  And swaps are the perfect opportunity for me to make something I wouldn't normally make, like a mug rug.

This is for the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap - we have to swap a FQ's worth of modern scraps and a handmade item.

I stalked my partner and she had a bunch of mosaics made for other swaps so I think I figured out pretty good what to make for her.  

Now I have been a bit of a negligent blogger lately due to lack of activity and motivation, and that got me thinking about why I blog.  

If you are a blogger, why do you blog?  

I came to the conclusion that I do it for selfish reasons.  I want to have a place where I can occasionally get some feedback about the things I make.

If you are a blog follower, why?  

I follow blogs because I love to see what other people are up to and get new ideas and see styles that are similar but different from my own. 

So, I'm curious, what are your reasons for blogging or following?

Here's the second... (needed a different URL for linking). 

I like lime green and purple together so I started with those solids and then I ended up adding some blue.  Again the grays are there because I cannot leave them out.  Really, they just jumped right in!

A name...?

Calmed Down.

a contest

Let me start by saying that I am not very confident in my colour coordinating abilities. 

My wardrobe is mostly solids or 'blenders' for tops mixed with jeans or black bottoms.

My walls are all cream coloured and then I simply add whatever I like for decor, whether it actually matches or not.

When choosing fabric, I generally stick to fabrics from the same line as I am really not sure about mixing patterns and colours.

That being said, this is a bit of a step out for me.  

Sew Lux Fabric is having a contest on their blog called the Guest Curator Contest.

I hesitated, but I am entering two mosaics.  They are slightly similar in that I kept the two gray prints and the purple solid.  I'm not very daring.

I am currently dreaming up a quilt for my daughter that is made with blue and purple fabrics.  So for this one, I started with the blues and purples.  Then I thought to pull in some pinks for the girly factor and add some grays because I absolutely love gray and it keeps things balanced.

Let's call it The Quilt.

How'd I do?

something got done

It would seem that I am becoming a once a week blogger. 

I can only blame that on lack of 'stuff' happening around here.  Really, I do more sitting and hand stitching hexies or reading than anything lately.  Oh, and baking, because there's something about having cake in the evenings that I simply can't resist.

I do have some finishes to share though.

I finished some dress orders - no pictures of the dresses, but trust me, I have one completed, one cut and on the go and one, well, ready to cut.

I am a sucker for scraps, and though I said no more swaps until after the baby comes, I just had to get in on the Scrappy Swap.  We are trading a FQ's worth of scraps and a handmade item that's been made with scraps.  I love that part - it really forces me to look at my own scraps differently and then create something worth giving from them!  

I've seen Anna Maria Horner's feathers floating around Flickr and Pinterest and just knew I had to try one.  This was the perfect opportunity.

I pulled scraps that had pinks and purples and blues and after a few tries, I this came off the ironing board.

And, I am proud to say, I resisted the temptations of my stash and did everything with scraps.  

I turned the feather into a pouch.  I am not 100% happy with how my zipper turned out this time.  I skipped the fabric tabs on the ends and I regret having done that as it messed with my mind and broke three of my needles.

In any case, this feather pouch along with a good size FQ of scraps will be off to my partner next week.  Oh, and there is a surprise in the lining...

As of this morning, I am also finished with my Stack n Whack quilt top.  On Sunday, I saw that one of the friends I had attended this class with was already finished her top and that gave me the push I needed to finally get my act together.

Not a great picture, but really, taking pictures of quilt tops seems a little difficult to do alone.  You get the idea anyway.  I also had just enough of the purple fabric to cut enough for binding.  

All that's left is getting a backing and bringing it in to the quilter.  

Hehe, I say that's all that's left, but it might be a long time before that happens.