sewing for therapy

As you have probably heard, Google reader is kicking the can. It will no longer be around after July... does that mean that if you follow with Google Friend Connect, that you will no longer get my posts? 

In any case, you can follow via Bloglovin' now.  That link is in the post below this one.

I've been busy trying to potty train my almost 3 year old and she is, well, doing good I guess, but it sure is making me cranky.  She doesn't seem to get that she has to tell me when she has to go, so I'm always taking her without her telling me she has to go.  If I leave her, she'll just go in her underwear.  Will she learn to tell me when she needs to use the toilet, or is that something they just are ready for or not?  First time potty-trainer here, so I could use a little help and encouragement.

Other than that, I've been trying to get some therapy by sewing.  Anything to brighten my mood.

I designed this maxi dress because I had some people asking me about making them for their girls.  It can be tied halter style or in the back with a bow on a loop coming up from the back. 

This was my prototype - I learned that I need to make the skirt a little wider.  Other than that, I am pretty happy with the design.

I'm also getting ready for the Spring Market put on by some ladies from my church.  That means making some more little dresses, but I'm also trying something new this year.  

Pillow covers.

Pluses - I'm really loving this one and almost don't want to put it up for sale!

Improv Chevrons - tutorial from Six White Horses.

I quilted the chevron pillow cover with organic straight lines.  I thought it kind of went with the 'organic' chevrons.

m.i.a.

No worries, I'm still around.  I just haven't been able to find the time to blog lately. 

I have been busy though.

I finished cutting up this bunch for a toddler quilt for Little D.  She was sleeping in her toddler bed for a while, but has decided to move back to her crib.  We're not pushing the bed at this point because Baby K is still in the bassinet, but soon D will have to move to her bed permanently.  What better way to make her think the big girl bed is best than to give it a new quilt!

D was complaining that her blanket now, her crib quilt, is too small for her bed.  And it's true.  It's not nearly long enough or wide enough, so if she turns, she gets uncovered.  Good thing mommy is handy with a sewing machine.

These hexies are for the Get Your Hex On swap.  The first block is Valentines themed, so all the fabrics chosen are reds and pinks.  Then we have to make a heart and sew it on to a white square.

Somehow, though, D got a hold of my paper templates, and now instead of 25, I only have 10.  Ooops.

I also did a bunch of swapping for destash on Flickr and got some great blue and purple scraps in return.

Of course I just had to use them right away and I whipped up a bunch more feather halves.  I think I have about 16 whole feathers so far. I'm going to have to get some more fabric bits soon as I'm slowly running out of options.  

Love how they're turning out so far though.  I'm thinking black centres and some kind of textured cream background.

This weekend is also exciting for me as I'm going to my first ever quilt retreat!  It's a one day event from 9-9 of pure uninterrupted sewing.  I'm really hoping to get the toddler bed quilt done.  Hope to show you next week what I've accomplished.

And some more exciting news...

I bought a serger!!!  Eeep!

It's a Huskylock 901 I found second hand.  The lady who owned it only used it for the class but never on her own.  

Anyone have any experience with a Huskylock 901?  I've looked for reviews online, but they are far and few between.  Any serger tips for a first time user? 

a bit of this

Did you know that today is Giveaway Day over at Sew Mama Sew?  There are 5 categories of giveaways - so many blogs and so much stuff being given away!  I participated last year, but opted out this year.  Instead of having a 'mass' giveaway, I am planning to have a follower giveaway within the next 2 months.  

Lucky you who follow me.

I actually had a very productive weekend.  Well, weekend is a bit of a stretch, it was more of a day.  Saturday.  I finished piecing together all the hexy flowers for the Hexy MF last week and on Saturday I crawled around on the floor with my 9 month pregnant belly basting the hexies to the quilt top fabric.  My husband kept looking over at me as I grunted and huffed and puffed my way up and down and around.  

But it's basted and I've already secured one side to the fabric!  At least the stitching part I can do while sitting.  

I might even get this quilt done this year!  

One question for you then - 

How would you quilt this?  

Hand quilt?  

Bring it to a quilter?  

Organic straight lines?  

Swirls of some sort?  

Really, I have no idea and could really use some suggestions.

On Flickr, I had posted a picture that I was ISO blue and purple scraps.  Some wonderful Flickr people helped me out and swapped with me for some of their scrap stash.  

This is what is becoming of those scraps. 

I'm making a feather quilt from Anna Maria Horner's pattern.

Originally, I had intended it to be for little D, but now I think she will be gifted the Hexy MF (hubby thinks it's too pink for our bed - I might agree from his point of view) and this might be a long-in-the-making quilt for us.  That means I will have to find a lot more scraps. 

Making feathers from scraps is a lot more time consuming than making them with strips.  I have to make each piece separately because most of the scraps are not long enough to piece together and then cut in bulk.
So far, I'm okay with that though.  I like the idea that no feather will be the same as another, and yet, they will all be blue and purple.
I was thinking of doing a gray stem and putting it all together with something like Kona Champagne. 

Or I'll just have to buy some fat eighths off Etsy along with some scrap packs... 

Or find some more people to swap with... 

Wanna swap with me?

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.

WIP Wednesday

I'm not very consistent in posting my WIP's, especially not on Wednesdays, but hey, I actually have something to show this time!

I have never taken any kind of quilting class, and most of what I learned, I learned online from blogs and other great quilters.  But, this past Monday, two friends and myself participated in Stack n Whack class at a local quilt shop.  I went not just to learn something, but mostly for the fun.  And we had a lot of fun since it turned out it was just the three of us there that day.  

I also got something started.

We had to find a fabric with a 12" repeat and I found this one from Pat Bravo called Fashion Mood in Bright from her Bespoken line.  I paired it up with her coordinating solid and ended up with these blocks.

I will admit, that on Monday I only got 4 blocks done and I made another sewing day out of yesterday and finished off the other 4.  I also have the triangles cut and just have to piece the top together and add borders and I'm finished the top.  

I'm also still plugging away at my Hexy MF quilt.  So far I've pieced together two strips for the top.  

Kinda nice that I can piece this together from the comforts of my rocking chair.  It does get a little clumsy since the strips as slightly stiff with the papers and they are pretty long. 

Coming along nicely though!  Just this stack left... 

I also have some dresses to make as a result of the tradeshow I attended last Saturday.  I've started cutting them, but was gone so far this week so I didn't really pay much attention to them yet.

I'm also still working on this one too!  

 

32 weeks and counting

Don't you just love self photos?

it came!

First off, I have to post this picture of my sweetie happy with her new towel.

I tried it on her the next morning hoping I had made the hole big enough for her head to fit through.  It did.  She was excited to wear it for a while.  But then it started to get in the way of her play, so it had to come off.

Yesterday and today the mailman was good to me.  

The fabrics and papers I ordered for Hexie MF came!  All except the yellow colour for the centres, but that's okay because at least I can get started on this.

I absolutely love these all together and I cannot wait to start putting it all together.

The gray colour is perfect!

Of course, I couldn't wait and as soon as the first few fabrics and the papers came, I was cutting and basting.  

I had never basted the paper to the fabric before with glue, and I must say, why didn't I find this out earlier!  It makes it so much easier because the fabric is not moving around on the paper.  I never liked using a pin because that always bent things up a bit, but this glue idea - brilliant.

Because I am in Canada, shipping can be quite pricey to get fabric.  Most Etsy sellers charge $12.95 CAN for 3.25 to 8 yards.  One seller had most of what I needed for the QAL, so I ended up ordering extra to fill up the parcel to 8 yards.  That way at least, my shipping was worth it.

That's where these beauties come from.

I asked Cheryl of on the grain fabrics to add to my order of 1/2 yards a rainbow potluck of 16 FQs.  Colour is always handy around here.  She picked some great fabrics and included a great variety of colour.  

Thanks Cheryl!

some help please

This year I caught in on the fun and joined Craftaholics Handmade Gift Exchange.  This was the sixth exchange and there are two a year, one in the spring and one in the fall.  

This year Linda chose to use a site called Elfster to organize the swap.  Elfster blindly paired people up and then when you find out your partner, you can ask secret questions and look at their likes and their wishlist.  Some people don't seem to like or understand how Elfster works, but I thought it was great!  It was nice to be able to ask my secret partner questions about her style and likes.  That way I can put a gift together that I know is her style.

My partner collects owls and foxes, and I had some owl fabric left, so I made a reversible tote.  It turned out a little smaller than I hoped, but it is still a good size for when you don't need to take much along.

I had received some of the same owl fabric in a different colourway so I reverse appliqued an owl of the lighter colour on both sides of the bag.  I haven't done reverse applique before and I really like how it turned out.  I first interfaced the fabric I cut out of so that the edges wouldn't fray too badly.

My partner said she really liked colour so the reverse I chose a much brighter print from my stash. 

******

A quick interruption from our local elephant.

She used to be scared of this costume, but now she wears it weekly.  Even eats lunch with it on!

******

I am going to take a really big step.  I am joining a QAL.

I know!  What am I doing?  I'm not a quilter!

I make clothes and small quilty things, but I am not a quilter!

See, it's a big step.

I read over on Marian's blog about a QAL that Fat Quarterly is hosting.  Then I saw the quilt she was talking about and it was one I had pinned a while ago!  How could I resist!

The quilt is Hexie MF from Katy over at i'm a ginger monkey.

image from i'm a ginger monkey

I loved this quilt the moment I saw it, and now I have the opportunity to make it!  I am just a little excited to be making hexies all summer and then end up with this!

But now I have to pick fabrics.  I don't have a specific plan for this quilt, other than to make it, so my colour options are pretty open.  I headed over to the Fat Quarter Shop and Etsy to scope out some good fabrics and came up with three lines that I really like.  I want colours that will make the flowers pop from the background.  For all three lines I chose Soho Charcoal for the background.  I really wanted to find a crosshatch or sketch in charcoal, but there is none to be had, so this will work.

I need your help now.  Which of these three lines do you think will show off the pattern of the quilt best?

Domestic Bliss by Liz Scott for Moda Fabrics

Peachy Keen La Dee Da from Erin McMorris

Vogue Blue Modernology by Pat Bravo

stepping out

I am a non-quilter trying to do quilty things.  Does that make me a quilter now too?

I have seen paper piecing around and never really got the hype of it.  I didn't really like all the little pieces and all the seams that showed in the end product.  

But sometimes you have to make things that someone else will like, so you end up trying new things.  Like paper piecing.  

I joined the Modern She Made Swap on Flickr because I like the challenge of making something other than clothes.  I make clothes to sell, but I make other things to try new techniques and then give away.  If I tried everything I wanted to try and then kept it all, I would have a lot of stuff.  I think I have enough stuff, though one day I will have to make something for me.

Maybe, if my partner doesn't like this, I will keep this project.

I had won a subscription to the magazine Fat Quarterly about a year ago and the final issue I received was about paper piecing.  This little girl with her balloon were one of the features in the magazine.  I thought she was kind of cute, but did not have any intention of making her.  

Then this swap came up and I thought, why not try that little girl!  

Well, one reason to not try her was because I had no idea how to paper piece.  And another was because the project was labelled intermediate, level three.  

But I like a challenge, so I printed the pattern and got to work.

And what a work!  I had only done one practice run on a very very simple diamond pattern, and now there were all these little pieces!  The biggest thing for me was making sure I had the fabric positioned correctly.  I did a lot of seam ripping because I guessed wrong.  

Next time, I am going to try something easier and a little more geometric.  

I did the balloon first and that seemed to go pretty good if you discount the picking.  But the girl was another story.  All the parts!  And then everything had to match up!  She was looking a little wonky, but I kept going.  In the end, I think she's not so wonky after all.

I squared the block up and surrounded it with some Kona Pacific.  

Now I have to decide if she is good enough to send to another person.  Is she something you would like to have? 

Working Along

 

It's that day of the week again! 

Last week I showed you all my mini quilt for my For the Love of Solids swap partner.  

I had the top and back all pieced and was debating what sort of quilting I was going to do.  

I went with some quilting that I really loved on the back, but not so much on the front.  Somehow, it was too busy and the quilting distracted from the simple lines of the design.  

I could always say the back is the front and the front the back, but I wasn't satisfied with that either.

So, as any perfectionist would do, I started all over.  

Now I have this little quilt and I love it much more than the other.  Granted, the back is pretty boring now, only white with black lines quilted onto it, but hey, it's the front that counts!

Binding is sewn on, ready to be hand sewn onto the front.

These simple lines look so much better to me.  

Also a W.I.P for me is making some boys button up shirts for the shop!  I have some fabric and some ideas which may or may not include stenciling and cars, and I am almost ready to go!  

Sure hope I have a cute little shirt to show you next week!

Thoughts?

Okay.

I quilted the mini quilt, but now I'm not sure if the quilting detracts from the overall design or if it looks okay.

I like it on the back.

 But do I like it on the front?

It is too late to unpick anything, but I do have more fabric to make another quilt.  

Please!  What do you think?

I'm a Keener!

So yesterday I posted this project as a W.I.P and now I am nearing completion! 

I seem to always do that.  Start something and then really go at it till it is done without doing much else in between.  

Oh, well, here is the update on my solids swap item.

Front of mini quilt.

Back of mini quilt.

Now I have to get on to the business of quilting and binding.

  

I have never ever made a mini quilt before and I have very limited experience in quilting techniques, so this will be simple straight line quilting.  The binding I will most likely do by machine and hand to keep it neat since I am terrible at machine binding.  

Any tips on quilting?  Lots of pins?  I'm just a little nervous!

A Wedding Gift

Yesterday I went to the wedding of a friend.  She and I lived together for two years while going to our respective universities.  It was a good time and we were always trying to have the last word and had a lot of witty word wars.  I have to admit, she was a worthy opponent and gave me a run for my money.  

Somehow, though, I seem to remember, that I usually won out. 

Anyway, yesterday was the day she married her man and I thought that deserved a gift from the heart, something handmade.

She did have a registry at Home Outfitters, and I looked at the list and saw that she had herringbone pillows on her list.  I was a little miffed that I could not see a picture of them, even when I googled them.  So, I made my own version of Home Outfitters herringbone pillows.  Hopefully they are close to the real thing.

I searched online for a picture and then a tutorial and found this one at Our Humble A{Bowe}d.  It looked easy enough, though time consuming.  I think the pillows she wanted were red and black, so I made two pillow covers, one red with black stitching and one black with red stitching.  

I like them and kinda wanted to keep them.  But I have that with almost anything I make.  

I cut 4inch stripes, ironed them in half and pinned and sewed, pinned and sewed.

 

It was a lot of pinning and sewing.  As I said, easy enough, but time consuming.

I used the envelope style closure on the pillows again and I love how they turned out!

I wasn't sure I would like a black pillow, but I think I like this one better than the red!

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Saviour. 

From Luke chapter 2: 

 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”