Friday, December 30, 2011

A Look Back

Would you believe I had to google how to make these mosaics again, after I had it all figured out last year?  Luckily, it is super easy.  Here is a look back at some of my quilts from 2011. 
1. Deep Blue Sea, Baby Quilt, 2. paper boat mini, 3. Good Folks Baby Quilt, 4. Baby Makes Three Quilt, 5. doll towerall, 6. Roe Baby Quilt, 7. wonky kites, 8. Four Square, 9. sea glass wall hanging, 10. ticker tape rainbow, 11. scrap rainbow, 12. Lemon Sorbet Baby Quilt, 13. Summer Citrus Baby Quilt, 14. kaleidoscope quilt, 15. midwest metro link, 16. Plus Baby Girl Quilt

I has a lot of fun with other sewing projects too, and here are some of them.
1. drawstring bag for my WIPs, 2. New Ruffled Wristlet, 3. E-reader Cover, 4. jane market bag and perfect zipper bags, 5. Voile Infinity Scarf, 6. cell phone case, 7. log cabin potholder , 8. stegosaurus tee, 9. kidlet, 10. Doggy's new bed, 11. Falling Leaves Runner and Placemats, 12. wonky zigzag pillow, 13. pojagi panel 1, 14. Lemon Sorbet doll quilt with piggy, 15. apron in an hour, 16. Solid Hexagon Pillow

I have some exciting things to share in the coming weeks.  Hope to see you then!  Happy New Year!

Friday, December 23, 2011

One for the Road

We're just about to head out for our holiday travels, and I want to take some hand work along.  Jeni's drawstring bag is perfect to hold my WIPs.
The body of the bag is a special Koseki print, paired with Circa 1934 dots and numbers inside, with Heath strings.
 I'm filling the bag with my English paper piecing project.  Maybe I'll make some progress over the break.
Have a safe holiday season, and merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Dumplings

Just a few last minute gifts. 
These little zipper pouches, called dumplings, are made from a free tutorial from Keyka Lou, and as always, her instructions are easy to follow with great step by step photos.  I love how they are finished inside - no exposed seams or raw edges.  I've made several more since, and they have already been gifted to friends.  
Good luck with your last minute sewing!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

New and Improved Ruffled Wristlets

I made my first ruffled wristlets and tutorial over a year ago, and they have been handy gifts for family, teachers, etc.  I made several more this Christmas, and I came up with some improvements to the pattern.  For starters, I'm hosting the new tutorial on google documents, which may be easier for some to access than scribd.  It's certainly easier for me to upload that way.  You can find it here:
New Ruffled Wristlets Tutorial
The new construction technique is what I'm most excited to share with you.  I've finished the circle of the wristlet completely, so there are no raw edges.  I've also created the ruffle from a single strip of fabric, rather than two as in the old tute. Finally, I made the loop larger.  It is easy to slide on and off, even for those with larger hands.  You can even adjust the size of the loop slightly in one of the final steps.
 I hope you like it and find it improved and easy to download.  I'd love to see any wristlets you make!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Deep Blue Sea, Baby Quilt

Well, as I promised, here is the baby quilt version of Sailing Weather, my paper boat mini, in a much more saturated color palette.  It has a different feel right?  I had tons of fun making this.
For the paper boat, I used the newsprint from Annie's Farmstand.  I enlarged the paper template I created to fit the scale of the quilt.
For the sun, I used the six minute circle technique, which is a way to do reverse applique by machine.  I pieced the sun with little 1 inch squares.
The binding is Kona Grass, and the backing is a dot from DS Quilts.  I free motion quilted the top with curly waves in the sea and puffy clouds and swirly winds in the sky. 
 
The quilt is approximately 36 x 42.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

E-reader Cover Made Masculine

I love the cover I made yesterday for my e- reader, but I wanted to make another version for my dad.  I knew it needed to be very masculine if I want him to actually use it.  I think I accomplished that goal.

I used suiting material and essex linen.  I like the simple strap across the top, and I used french seams to keep everything tidy inside and out.  Two layers of fusible fleece provide the padding.  Now he'll be all set to read on the go.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Christmas Came Early

A certain online seller sent my gift with the name of the e-reader on the box, and since the surprise was gone, I got my Christmas gift early.  Yeah!  I whipped up this super simple cover.

Isn't the book fabric perfect? It is from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection, along with Essex linen and a print from Mini Mike.
I need to make another cover for my Dad, since he got the same gift.  I think I'll try a strap closure on his.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Bag Sewing

My paper boat baby quilt is ready for quilting, but I've got some Christmas gifts to get in the mail first.  A family member asked for a few totes, and I decided to buy the Jane Market Bag pattern, after seeing so many great ones on flickr.  I used Outside Oslo home dec weight fabric for the body, and I paired it with Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2.  They go together perfectly.
The tote is a great size for groceries, books, anything you need to tote really.  I like that it stands on it's own too (if you use some fusible fleece as the interfacing).
With the scraps from my market bag, literally, I made these two zipper bags, from Elizabeth's pattern.  She uses a unique process to insert the zipper, and it worked beautifully.  This is the best my zippers have ever looked.
More Christmas gifts to make.  Does anyone else want to keep one of each item they are making?  That's really slowing me down. :)