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. :)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Paper Boat Mini Quilt

Did you ever make paper boats as a child?  I drafted my own paper pieced pattern for this tiny boat and used a print from Hometown that reminded me of newsprint.
The water is a scallop from Spa, and I quilted it to resemble ocean swells.  It's a windy day, and this whimsical boat is sailing away. 
I had a lot of fun with this mini (14 x 17).  Next up, a baby quilt version in more saturated colors.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day (or weekend, if you're not in the US). 
I finished this fall tree pillow just in time for the end of autumn. I added my leaves after I sandwiched the top with batting, so I was able to quilt it as I went.  I think it adds some nice texture.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Voile Infinity Scarves

 
I've started some Christmas sewing, and  scarves are a great, one-size-fits-all gift.  These infinity scarves are made from super soft voile and shot cotton.
I used Little Folks voile by Anna Maria Horner.  I just love these prints
The fun thing about infinity scarves is you can wear them so many ways.  I like mine looped three times.   They look elegant and dramatic draped twice around the neck. I used Lauren's tutorial to make these; the only change I made was to shorten the length a few inches.
The lipstick shot cotton on this one is so pretty!
I made a few as gifts, and I put these three in my shop, just in time for Christmas shopping.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Cell Phone Case

My tiny, out of date cell phone finally has a case (just in time to be replaced?  maybe?  for Christmas?).  I made this using a great pattern by Keyka Lou.  Really, all her patterns are easy to follow with lots of pictures for each step.
I used scraps of County Fair home decor fabric leftover from this purse and a vintage button.  The only change I made to the pattern was to use fusible fleece rather than interfacing.  It gives it a nice weight and padding for the next time my poor phone gets dropped.
The pattern comes in two sizes; this is the small version.   And since the patten is a pdf, I can easily print out the larger size, should I need it.  Soon?

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Fun with Jersey Knit

There are so many tutorials online for fun projects with jersey knit, so when I found a pretty teal knit on sale, I decided to try out a couple.  The first is a scarf I bookmarked ages ago by Make It and Love It.  It is super simple and quick to make.  This scarf is so soft and comfortable, let me tell you!
 
And check out this no-sew bracelet.  Cute, right?  The video tutorial by Vanessa is good for visual learners.
I bought 2 1/2 yards of knit fabric, which is enough to make 3 scarfs and several bracelets, making them very economical gifts.  Of course, I'll need to get more jersey knit now, since I want to keep these two for myself.  And I want to make more in some other pretty colors too.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Good Folks Baby Quilt

I finished up the baby quilt made from the trimmed HST from this quilt.  With the quilting, I emphasized the zigzag shape in the solid, and I tried a free motion design within the diamonds.
I love the colors against the gray and that I get to showcase every fabric from my treasured Good Folks collection in one place.
 
This was my first time binding a quilt with shot cotton, and it is perfect for binding - so lightweight and soft.  The color is Lipstick.
Another first for me with this quilt was a flannel backing.  For some reason I thought flannel would be hard to quilt, but it was no different than quilting cotton.  And it feels so great!  Very cuddly for this baby quilt.  It is another Anna Maria Horner fabric, from her Folksy Flannel line.  I really like how many of her fabrics, from various lines, coordinate well.
This baby quilt finished at 39 x 39.

Friday, November 4, 2011

One More

It seems I spoke too soon about being done with log cabins for a while.  I had forgotten about my guild's log cabin potholder swap with the PMQG.  I made a modern, random log cabin for my partner. She didn't list color preferences, so I made it with some of my favorites.
This Amy Butler print was perfect for the back.
I'm looking forward to seeing all the other potholders made for the swap at our meeting next week.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Baby Makes Three Quilt

This is the final installment of my log cabin obsession, for now.  It has been fun to play with different numbers of blocks and various amounts of negative space in this quilt, as well as this one and this one.  I like the minimalist feeling of the quilts. Using only a few blocks, set off by a wide solid space, focuses the eye on the fabrics and shapes in those few blocks.
It has also allowed me to feature some squared off free motion quilting and a scrappy binding.  I used binding strips left over from three other projects.  There is the Hope Valley stripe, Kona berry, and Kona coal. The solid in the quilt itself is Kona ash.
The backing is a great Erin McMorris print with happy pinks and purples.  I think it adds a a whimsical, feminine touch to the quilt.
 This baby quilt finished at 37 x 45 and is available in my shop.