It is packed to the brim with hand sewing projects for the week!
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Nearly wordless
I love this bag, but I have to run out to the car to leave town on vacation. It is by Sew Demented and it is the Sew Together bag pattern on etsy Craftsy. (Sorry about the mistake. I wrote this post on less than four hours sleep.)
It is packed to the brim with hand sewing projects for the week!
It is packed to the brim with hand sewing projects for the week!
My first DC Modern Quilt Guild Meeting
I went to my first modern quilt guild meeting with the DC quilters over the weekend. I had a *blast* meeting a bunch of great people and I got really inspired by them.
And, lucky for me, they had a sewalong for a pattern I was dying to make.
The Atkinson Designs Pockets to Go. I made the long caddy.
The pattern calls for just two fabrics, but I hate to play favorites. Or maybe I just have too many favorites.
So I used some scraps and some stash...
...and a little bit of new fabric from the Architextures line. I am aware that five is a ridiculous amount of pictures for one little sewing caddy, but I had good light in the backyard and I just couldn't help myself.
And, lucky for me, they had a sewalong for a pattern I was dying to make.
The Atkinson Designs Pockets to Go. I made the long caddy.
The pattern calls for just two fabrics, but I hate to play favorites. Or maybe I just have too many favorites.
So I used some scraps and some stash...
...and a little bit of new fabric from the Architextures line. I am aware that five is a ridiculous amount of pictures for one little sewing caddy, but I had good light in the backyard and I just couldn't help myself.
Digging, finding, sewing, packing, etc.
I'd like to start by thanking all of you for sending me good thoughts about packing and moving. Henry is adapting fairly well so far, though we can see the effects of the change of routine. We are making steady progress on the house, but Friday is coming up very quickly.
The very hardest room to pack up has been my craft room. I tend to have too, too many ideas. I make a lot of piles of random supplies with big, big plans in my head. And then the piles beget more piles. I feel like it was an archeological dig down in my basement to some of the ideas I had when we moved in six years ago (or before). Anyway, in order to tie up some loose ends, I ended up sewing and cutting a lot more in the past two weeks than I had planned on.
I cut up all of the fabric for Ben's quilt and then packed it up.
I cut up some squares for a patchwork muted red, white and blue quilt. I've had this idea swimming around in my head for 3 years and I finally collected enough fabrics for it.
I had one starter block received from the 3x6 bee (mrssorrells2009 on flickr) and a stack of fabric that this block inspired.
I started by cutting the fabric into strips to make one large log cabin block. Then, instead of folding up the strips and putting them away, I just sewed them all into a quilt top.
I look forward to getting a batting and backing on that after the move.
I also dug up some quilt as you go squares from the Mother's Day retreat with crazymomquilts and I finished quilting all of those. I hope I can get some of them sewn together on the car ride.
As I've been packing, the mail has been coming in with ornaments in the Trim the Tree swap. I'm a lucky, lucky swapper this year!
Oh gosh. I'd love to chat more and show off more fabric and quilting and project pictures but I really have to get back to cleaning and painting and bubble-wrapping everything. I have big craft plans for the drive and for the first couple of weeks before the boxes arrive by moving truck. Cross your fingers that all of the knitting and hand sewing projects I have in my head will fit in our tiny little car.
The very hardest room to pack up has been my craft room. I tend to have too, too many ideas. I make a lot of piles of random supplies with big, big plans in my head. And then the piles beget more piles. I feel like it was an archeological dig down in my basement to some of the ideas I had when we moved in six years ago (or before). Anyway, in order to tie up some loose ends, I ended up sewing and cutting a lot more in the past two weeks than I had planned on.
I cut up all of the fabric for Ben's quilt and then packed it up.
I cut up some squares for a patchwork muted red, white and blue quilt. I've had this idea swimming around in my head for 3 years and I finally collected enough fabrics for it.
I had one starter block received from the 3x6 bee (mrssorrells2009 on flickr) and a stack of fabric that this block inspired.
I look forward to getting a batting and backing on that after the move.
I also dug up some quilt as you go squares from the Mother's Day retreat with crazymomquilts and I finished quilting all of those. I hope I can get some of them sewn together on the car ride.
As I've been packing, the mail has been coming in with ornaments in the Trim the Tree swap. I'm a lucky, lucky swapper this year!
Oh gosh. I'd love to chat more and show off more fabric and quilting and project pictures but I really have to get back to cleaning and painting and bubble-wrapping everything. I have big craft plans for the drive and for the first couple of weeks before the boxes arrive by moving truck. Cross your fingers that all of the knitting and hand sewing projects I have in my head will fit in our tiny little car.
My Precious, again.
I swear that I'm not trying to be obnoxious with repetitious pictures of my Farmer's Wife quilt. But, it is the project that is on my mind all of the time lately.
Kelly of kelbysews is doing another My Precious link up and I wanted to link to updated photos of my most precious project. Also, I have a thing for backlit quilt top photos. I love how they look like stained glass.
These pictures include three of my recently remade blocks, too. I'll do a specific post later with a few blocks to give away. But you get a sneak peek now.
Thank you for your patience as I near completion of the biggest quilt project I've ever done.
Kelly of kelbysews is doing another My Precious link up and I wanted to link to updated photos of my most precious project. Also, I have a thing for backlit quilt top photos. I love how they look like stained glass.
These pictures include three of my recently remade blocks, too. I'll do a specific post later with a few blocks to give away. But you get a sneak peek now.
Thank you for your patience as I near completion of the biggest quilt project I've ever done.
2011 in Review
Finished Quilts
1. modern vintage quilt--closer, 2. breeze, 3. extra, mini quilt, 4. Bright Return--back, 5. front, 6. 4 in a row, 7. Oliver's I Spy quilt, 8. front with sun, 9. mittens and mushrooms, 10. Henry's Swimmy Quilt, 11. swimmy quilt for Miles, 12. outside
One look at my finished quilts mosaic and all I can see is right angles in almost every single project. My bee blocks and my quilt designs have gotten so creative over the past year with more angles and curves than I ever knew I could make. But I didn't finish any of those quilts. I could write a resolution to stay away from square angles in 2012, but I like them too much. I see some old projects that finally were pulled out of oblivion and finished. Eight of the quilts above were gifts (two for Henry), four of them are I Spy quilts, the mini tree quilt was for a swap and six of them were sent to charity to warm up new babies. Not one finished quilt for me, although I do nap with Henry's I Spy quilt on occasion.
Finished Small Projects
1. tea cozy front, 2. swap extras, 3. workshop potholder exchange, 4. housewarming potholder, 5. bag side 2,
6. pretty little pouch front, 7. growth chart, 8. hand sewn rattle ball, 9. coasters for swap, 10. potholders for swap,
11. ornaments, 12. C is for Charise pincushion, 13. Bubble Pouch front, 14. Cubs ornament for the hubs,
15. mom's pillow, 16. dr. seuss jammie pants, 17. knitting needle case, 18. Keychain Clutch closed
I did finish a number of small projects this year. I designed the tea cozy, potholders, pouch, knitting needle holder and ornaments. I also finally made another piece of clothing for Henry. And I made my first pillow! I hope to branch out and do more non-quilt sewing in 2012.
Favorite Bee Blocks
1. kelp quilt strip for neshamamama, 2. string block for lucky_charm, 3. simple, square, improv for bix and bee, 4. 3x6 for i like orange, too, 5. book block for Vicky in the Sew Buzzy Bee, 6. caretaker swap, 7. 3x6 for snail girl, 8. June Easy Bee-ing Green Block, 9. house block for innerpiece, 10. block for Vanessa, 11. bee block for knittykaren, 12. angel block,
13. veronique block 1, 14. cocorico bee block, detail, 15. October Orchard Themed Block, 16. November Ski Sweater Block
I made 43 bee blocks in 2011! That seems like a crazy number. I started out the year in four bees and now I'm ending the year in four completely different bees. I may pull out of one because right now I'm signed up to make 60 bee blocks in 2012. Yikes! The bee blocks have helped me grow and learn new skills and make new friends. But it can get to be a bit much....
My biggest plans for 2012 are to continue to work on my block design skills and to make quilts out of all of the blocks I've received in various bees. That should keep me busy!
I'm linking up to Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day. Come check it out!
Barely coming up for air...
I'm *still* in the throes of holiday crafting. Yes, the holiday was yesterday, but I don't see my family until next weekend---so their gifts aren't done yet. I can tell you that if I manage to finish them all, it would be a post-holiday miracle.
Anyway, I have tons of photos to share and projects to write about, but I'm just popping in to show off one thing, my advent calendar:
This is from a tutorial by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.
I used a variety of fabrics and highlighted more prints than the tutorial suggested.
I also changed the seam allowance for the pockets so more of the background fabric would be seen. I chose a loopy quilting pattern rather than the meandering stitch. This is the first time that I've ever used a free-motion quilting presser foot.
There is a lot of room for improvement in my quilting technique, but I'm still pleased with how it turned out.
I used Kei honeycomb dots for the binding. Don't you just love a good dot fabric?
This was the first time that I ever hand stitched the binding to the back of the quilt. It really does look invisible.
I hope your holidays were delightful. We've been busy reading books, playing with trains, dancing to Bing and doing "dishes!" Henry would rather roll up his sleeves and drag a chair up to the sink than play with his toys. Silly guy :)
Anyway, I have tons of photos to share and projects to write about, but I'm just popping in to show off one thing, my advent calendar:
This is from a tutorial by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.
I used a variety of fabrics and highlighted more prints than the tutorial suggested.
I also changed the seam allowance for the pockets so more of the background fabric would be seen. I chose a loopy quilting pattern rather than the meandering stitch. This is the first time that I've ever used a free-motion quilting presser foot.
There is a lot of room for improvement in my quilting technique, but I'm still pleased with how it turned out.
I used Kei honeycomb dots for the binding. Don't you just love a good dot fabric?
This was the first time that I ever hand stitched the binding to the back of the quilt. It really does look invisible.
I hope your holidays were delightful. We've been busy reading books, playing with trains, dancing to Bing and doing "dishes!" Henry would rather roll up his sleeves and drag a chair up to the sink than play with his toys. Silly guy :)
Unexpected Finished Object
I have to start with an admission.... I am a terrible housekeeper. I like to start a lot of projects, but I'm not good at finishing things and, to top it off, I'm awfully forgetful. So, that results in my house covered in lots of little piles of things that I mean to finish. But, I move to the beat of my motivation (not the best priority-setter), and I'm usually inspired to start something shiny and new.
So, this week I decided to tackle the piles around my house and thin a few. I didn't get far uncovering the dining room table, but I did sort some lovely fabric bits in my craft room in the basement. Henry was "helping" by tearing up the shelves and banging on my project on the loom. My table loom sits on the floor now that the sewing machine and a million projects live on the craft table. Remember my scarf from this post?
It was woven only 36" long (not just the 6" in the picture) and still was on the loom five months later. While I sorted fabric, Henry was yanking on the scarf and futzing with the parts of the loom and then he toppled over. That's a good sign for nap time, so I came back to the loom during my free time.
The first step was to examine the project and figure out why I put it down in the first place. In this instance, the grey alpaca yarn that I chose for the warp and the weft is truly, truly lovely, but it is so overwound that the lines of weft couldn't be beaten snugly. This resulted in a scarf with lots of holes and a stiff fabric. That doesn't seem cozy to me.
So, I took a deep breath and then started the tedious job of unweaving 36" of work line by tangly line. That took most of a three hour nap on Tuesday. The next day (and next nap time), I auditioned eight different yarns, chose a new weft and wove 16".
On Thursday I wove another 32" during nap and some more after Henry's bedtime. I also took the loom outside for some pics in the outdoor light (the basement lighting is atrocious).
On Friday I wove another 2", tied the tassels, wove in the ends, washed and blocked it. And there you have it. The scarf is dry and soft and gorgeous and finished.
I guess it isn't really unexpected that I finished it since it took four days, but it still is delightful. Doesn't a finished object make your week a little brighter?
Now I just have to hold myself back from starting another loom project just to let it languish on the floor for baby fingers to play with. Nope, I must must try to find my dining room table.
I cannot let the siren call of fabrics and yarns distract me.
:: plugging my ears and humming to myself ::
Really. I know there is a table here somewhere....
So, this week I decided to tackle the piles around my house and thin a few. I didn't get far uncovering the dining room table, but I did sort some lovely fabric bits in my craft room in the basement. Henry was "helping" by tearing up the shelves and banging on my project on the loom. My table loom sits on the floor now that the sewing machine and a million projects live on the craft table. Remember my scarf from this post?
It was woven only 36" long (not just the 6" in the picture) and still was on the loom five months later. While I sorted fabric, Henry was yanking on the scarf and futzing with the parts of the loom and then he toppled over. That's a good sign for nap time, so I came back to the loom during my free time.
The first step was to examine the project and figure out why I put it down in the first place. In this instance, the grey alpaca yarn that I chose for the warp and the weft is truly, truly lovely, but it is so overwound that the lines of weft couldn't be beaten snugly. This resulted in a scarf with lots of holes and a stiff fabric. That doesn't seem cozy to me.
So, I took a deep breath and then started the tedious job of unweaving 36" of work line by tangly line. That took most of a three hour nap on Tuesday. The next day (and next nap time), I auditioned eight different yarns, chose a new weft and wove 16".
On Thursday I wove another 32" during nap and some more after Henry's bedtime. I also took the loom outside for some pics in the outdoor light (the basement lighting is atrocious).
On Friday I wove another 2", tied the tassels, wove in the ends, washed and blocked it. And there you have it. The scarf is dry and soft and gorgeous and finished.
(doesn't the overwound yarn make the most perfect twisty tassels? i love them!)
I guess it isn't really unexpected that I finished it since it took four days, but it still is delightful. Doesn't a finished object make your week a little brighter?
Now I just have to hold myself back from starting another loom project just to let it languish on the floor for baby fingers to play with. Nope, I must must try to find my dining room table.
I cannot let the siren call of fabrics and yarns distract me.
:: plugging my ears and humming to myself ::
Really. I know there is a table here somewhere....
.
Stripping Paint
This is what our sun room looked like when we first moved in, four years ago. That dreadful rust color is crackle paint. Can you believe someone did that on purpose? We also had dark brown crackle paint upstairs, brown and white crackle paint on the fireplace and green and gold Packer crackle paint as a decorative touch on the broom closet door.
(remembering all of that makes me shudder now)
Well, we only have two crackle paint doors left in the whole house. Henry has recently been picking at the paint on the door to the basement, so.... I'm finally getting around to stripping it.
Working in the driveway or the garage:
And here it is without any finish. It is still in the garage. I have to work during naps or when Ben has Henry, so I still have to do the other side of the door.
It feels good to make progress, even four years later.
.
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