Productivity

Now if only I had won the Powerball jackpot and could stay at home to be crafty and productive all the time...  In my first three days of winter break, I've managed....

6 Plucky Pantry boxes from Ruby Star Wrapping.  I used curling ribbon rather than cloth ribbon as that is what I had on hand already and didn't want to face Joann's or anywhere near the mall in the last two days before Christmas.  The ribbon is totally reuseable...

 I do have to say that simply sticking things in boxes and tying with ribbon took a lot less effort than wrapping paper, but the steps to getting to the boxes being ready for stuffing was more work.  My goal is to do some throughout the year and not wait until the last week before Christmas next year.  Lucky for me, I have 6 complete already.

A Pleated Tote bag using Ellen Luckett Baker's tutorial.  I used the same Heirloom print for both the outside and the inside since it has been sitting in my stash for over a year.  It was pretty quick and wonderful since I had all the supplies on hand for once.  I now need more fusible fleece and another trip to Joann's to get that.  I think I might use some ShapeFlex interfacing on the handles next time.  The Amy Butler Spice Market Tote's handles just seem a little more sturdy than these with the fleece.

 A Washi dress for me using a print from Indie by Pat Bravo.  I need to unpick the side seams and reduce the front skirt a little bit.  It seems to be wider than it needs to be.  But, I am happy that I made a dress for me.

There should also be a picture of a Spice Market Tote for my mom using some Nigella by Amy Butler.  I remember thinking that I should wait for morning to take a picture but then I wrapped her present a few minutes later.  Perhaps I should take the camera over to the house when we go for dinner in a few minutes.  Then I can take a picture of the quilt for my dad and my mom's bag.  Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas.

Staples, glue and sewing

 My quilt group at work had two baby quilts to make this fall.  The second one we decided would be Interlocking Stars/Sparkle Punch using Superstar by Riley Blake.  I am not assembling or quilting it.

 The first one used up some random fat quarters from Joann, Kona Sky and Animal Alphabet from Moda on the back.  The layout was decided by my 5 year old with a lovely monologue about the boy blocks and the girl blocks sitting at school.  I wish I would have recorded it to keep.

 

  A Broken Herringbone block for Joelle.

My first real experimentation with the glue gun, a fabric ornament from V. and Co. tutorial.  I learned that the low temp $3 glue gun is worthless and am waiting to try again with my mom's spiffier glue gun. I'm now thinking it might be time to invest in a glue gun.

The string pillow with the leftovers from the charm packs used for the ornaments.  

The staple gun was pulled out to finally attach some of the prints from Cosmos by Laura Gunn to a few canvases.  Hopefully it won't take me as many months to actually get them mounted on the wall.

And now back to the staple gun.

I really have been sewing.....

If I don't post a large number of projects and pictures without much explanation, I may never post again so here goes.   My apologies for posts without html links but I think I included the proper credit.  

The front and back of the quilt many of us from work made this summer.  This is the back that one other co-worker and I completed.  I now love machine binding since I actually have a walking foot.

Mod Mosaic quilt blocks for a group baby quilt.  Tutorial from Oh Fransson!.  I was supposed to put that together this weekend but it just didn't work out that way.  This week.....

Solstice Stars Series quilt using Modern Meadow, Hope Valley, Kona White, Navy and Bahama Blue. More detailed post with finished pictures perhaps after the weekend if it ever stops raining with appropriate links provided.  Block directions at Fresh Lemon Quilts and the Lone Starburst quilt block is from a different source (the far left).

Barn Bats block from tutorial at Oh Fransson!  I made the right column, Traci made the left and put it all together.  A friend's son found a dead bat in a glass of water in his bedroom about two days before she posted the pictures.  Notice the quilted cup in the bottom corner.

A Patchwork Chevron baby quilt using Make Life.  Tutorial by Jeni Baker of In Color Order on Moda Bake Shop.

Sew.Bee.Create blocks for Jo using Simply Woven by Jessica Kelly posted on Moda Bake Shop

I made a scarf using the tutorial at Anna Maria Horner's blog but have yet to take pictures and a sparkly costume satin Cinderella dress too.  As well as an Octagonal Orb block for Kris using grey and orange for Sew.Bee.Create.

Perhaps after a second computer is purchased and mine does not have to go to school a few days a week in the evenings, I might actually post more often.  But I will go ahead and post now since internet seems to be working for about 30 seconds at a time during this little windstorm.

Ice cream dress and a bee block

 I finished Sue's bee block using this spiderweb tutorial.  It is about a .25" short in one corner on one side but I unpicked and resewed with less seam allowance and if I seam rip much more, the whole block may come apart with the tiny pieces in the corners.  Frustrating, but next time I make a block like this I may not trim the long side of the triangle until the block is assembled. Sometime in the past two weeks, the eldest had fun sewing fabric together and then seam ripping it back apart.  Love the glow in the dark fabric that I didn't notice until I packed up stuff for the night.

And next came the Ice Cream Dress from Oliver and S using Freshcut by Heather Bailey.  It is odd that she asked for a pink dress since she's been a blue obsessed girl since before the age of 2.  It is not perfect at all but she likes it.  She still needs to learn that just because it is called the "ice cream dress," it does not mean a trip to the ice cream parlor especially when she has a difficult day at school on Friday.  In the background, her brother is wearing her "nimbus" class picnic shirt and is starting to demand that I make him a dress.  Bought more Nightshade fabric and will be making him some pants sometime soon.

I did sew a shirt for me, a Grainline Studio Scout tee but haven't taken a picture.  I've also made plenty of muslins for the Washi dress to try to get the dart in the right place and be the right size.  I'm between sizes and had to lower the dart about an inch.  Now I just need to tape all my pieces together and I can start cutting that out next.  The staff quilt is done too but in the rush of the start of work for the year, I let them display it before getting a picture.

Clothes, again...

I've been enjoying making clothes so here are two more.  Other than learning again not to sew when I am tired late at night, they both were made with minimal seam ripping necessary and no consultations with my mom.

 An Oliver & S. Badminton Skort in Madrona Road by Violet Craft.

An Oliver & S. Class Picnic Blouse using Nightshade by Tula Pink.  After an impressive thunderstorm (by PNW standards) this summer, she would like to be a meteorologist.  We rarely get thunderstorms that they actually issue weather statements about but they did this summer.  She loves the lightning bolts and the moons on the fabric.

Please excuse the blurry pictures.  I had helpers.  Since I returned to work this week for two days and full time next week, I made myself a Spice Market Tote from Amy Butler.  The pictures will follow in the next post since I am attempting to be healthier and using the treadmill while having my computer time.  I am not talented enough to turn around and take a picture while walking on the treadmill.

So the current projects on my wish list include:
*Finish the backing for the Wonky Crosses Staff quilt to be displayed in September.  Then quilt it and give it to someone else to bind it.
*Make a ruffled pouch for my sister for Christmas since she admired mine.
*Make a Spice Market Tote for my mom
*Solstice Stars (from Faith of Fresh Lemons) quilt for my dad by mid October.
*One or two other clothing projects for my daughter
*Quilts for my SIL and two nephews (nice by Christmas but probably unlikely and not expected to be complete by then)

Quilt for MJ and a bee block

I'll start with showing the bee block for the month.  Cherie of Sew and So Quilts made a tutorial for a Carpenter's Star.  The only thing I didn't like so much was that I didn't really anticipate the number of HST that I would be pressing and trimming because of her directions.   I liked how she cut the larger square into smaller units after sewing the diagonals, I just didn't continue the thought process and understand what that meant until I started pressing a few days later.

And finally, the Lynnebobsquarepants quilt for my niece is complete.  The first few pictures were taken in the shade so the colors are not quite as vibrant as the actual quilt.

 After purchasing Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters, I decided to try a few new techniques for this quilt.  It looks gorgeous and I did enjoy quilting it most of the time but by the end I really wished I had just stippled it all over so it would be done already.  I did spend quite a bit of time just staring at my quilting because I thought it was pretty.  I couldn't get a picture of the back that showed the quilting well.

 Swirls in the white part and an 8 petal flower in the middle square.

 Some skinny swirl scrolls in the white square.  Next time I need to do better at filling the space with this design.

 And a paisley design in the color sections.  To end up on the proper side to travel in a line, I did the initial quilting in the direction I wanted to go next.

Pattern: Lynnebobsquarepants sized for 18" finished blocks
Fabrics: Kona White and Art Gallery Oval Elements, Nature Elements, Lace Elements, Bespoken and Poetica (mostly Poetica and Oval Elements)
Backing fabric: a Riley Blake polka dot flannel from a few years ago and more Poetica
Unwashed size: 72x90
Pieced and quilted by me
Seams pressed open, HST trimmed and binding handsewn by my mom.  I did some, but I fear she did the majority.

And now I should clean my machine before the next project.

Some clothes

I entered the world of garment sewing in the past month.  Now that I have the Lynnebobsquarepants quilt finished, I can go ahead and sew some more clothes for the upcoming school year.  There's a blue seersucker dress using the Wonderland pattern and a hooded jacket of the Sprout pattern that were my practice pieces, but I can't seem to find pictures.  Clothes have been nice quick projects by comparison.  I think I would like to work on a quick quilt soon without the need to trim lots of HST.

Wonderland, by Make it Perfect
fabric is from Soul Garden by Carolyn Gavin

Popover Sundress, free tutorial by Oliver and S.
fabric: Nature Elements in Lemonade

Class Picnic Blouse, Oliver and S.

Fabric: from the Lisette line at Joann's

X and + blocks for Sue

Using this tutorial, I made Sue's X and + blocks for her month in Sew.Bee.Create.  

The more I stare at the picture, the more the green part of the x is bothering me.  But, they are sealed in an envelope so I will just stop looking at the picture.  I should now go back to trimming blocks and assemble a quilt top.  Argh.

Dresses and pouches

Since my daughter's birthday party was a sleepover with her cousin this year, my mom and I made complimentary dresses for them.  Both use dragonfly fabric from Kate Spain's Good Fortune line.  It's another Sweet Little Dress from Leila and Ben.  The blue flower yo-yo is removeable.

My niece also got a lovely pillow to take home that matches the quilt she doesn't know about yet. I didn't take a picture of the final assembled pillow but I backed it with a light purple Kona and the two girls had fun stuffing it full.

I made it with a slightly selfish purpose in mind, to practice some FMQ.  I bought Angela Walters' book, and decided to try out concentric circles with pebbles.  Perhaps I really should have done some swirls or some concentric circles to practice first, but these 5 year olds are really forgiving.  

The back of the pillow front.  I need to work on even spacing among other things.

 The quilt blocks are all assembled awaiting a final trim before sewing them together into the top.  This is the approximate layout.  A few people have helped move the stacks and I don't think they are in the right order anymore.  I was going to try orange peel quilting but I'm not sure.

We made ruffled pouches using Lee's tutorial.  Fabric choice by her took forever and she shortly lost interest in helping.  The blue one is hers and the purple is mine.  I've now sewn an item with a zipper.  I don't feel like an expert.  I took in her pouch to her as she was silently reading this evening and she was quite excited.  She tucked it under her pillow before going to sleep.





Next up I need to start and finish my bee blocks for the month.  That's my goal for tomorrow.

Pressing and social sewing

I finally have the rows together for MJ's Lynnebobsquarepants quilt, but I need to press them before putting together the squares.  A tremendous thank you to my mom who was nice enough to trim HST for me.  I probably will be helping her quilt a 35+ year WIP for her so she can give it to my sister and no longer feel guilty about it.

Then today, I spent a few hours with friends from work on a staff art project.  We're not yet half done but I think a few more people are comfortable with a sewing machine now.  And I think picking out fabrics was probably their favorite part.   Next time I need to bring another cutting surface as that seemed to be the bottleneck.

Another bag, a pillow and a small quilt

 My oldest got annoyed with having the youngest steal her pillows, so she helped me sew a new one.  She arranged the squares, helped pin and helped decide where the straight line quilting would go.  The bottom still needs to be stitched closed but it is supposed to rain tomorrow and I'm trying to improve the quality of my pictures by taking them in natural light.  Not a difficult design but a good project for a near 5 year old.

 After giving a drawstring bag to my nephew for his swimming stuff, my niece got jealous and wanted one of her own.  This time I used coated fabric instead of laminated cotton.  It is a bit sturdier, or better put, it holds the shape more.  I'm not sure if I like it better that way.  The outside is from Good Fortune and the coated is a print from Terrain, both by Kate Spain.  I used a leaf stitch around the top just for fun and hopefully to hide any unevenness on the seam around the top.

  For this one, I cut the outside 16" x WOF.  Next, I cut a 4 x 16" strip and sub cut those into four  4" squares for the tabs for the strings.  I added two tabs to the inside so she could clip her lock and goggles to them.  I boxed the bottom of the bag with a 4 inch hypotenuse for the triangle.  Not sure if any of these directions make sense to anyone else besides me, but it will help me remember the dimensions for this bag if it seems to work out well.

   And finally, a small quilt.  I took leftover charm squares from 12 Days of Christmas and made HST.  After trimming, here is the winning layout.  I used the lines from the chevrons to echo quilt it across the whole top at random intervals.  My angles are not perfect, but I'm ok with that.  The quilt is bound with the Flurry scraps from two skirts I made.  There is a whole lot of Kate Spain fabric in this post.

  And for fun, I decided to quilt swirls in the chevron as a filler.  It looks pretty neat on the back.  I now really want to read Angela Walters new book and do a bit more planning with my quilting.  

    Next time, I think I will flip over the quilt while quilting the swirls.  I wish I would have consistently filled in the whole space between the two lines of the chevrons and it would have been easier to tell from the back.

  And now back to the regularly scheduled programming...... trimming more HST so I can finish the Lynnebobsquarepants quilt.