Cross Stitch Fun

Greetings from the Boston area where we are receiving 2+ feet of snow and counting, here's a view from our back door:

 

Thanks to everyone for voting for me in the "Your Andover" contest.  Thanks to the generosity of many people in spreading the word, my numbers have been climbing.  I am pretty excited.  If you haven't yet, you can vote here on Pinterest.

 

This post is to brag about my sister and her recent success with cross-stitch.  I have been trying to get her to sew for ages because I love it but she's more of the book-worm, athletic type.  When she was home over Christmas break, I showed her some fun cross stitch patterns that I thought might appeal to her.  She agreed to try this Harry Potter pattern found on etsy: 

 

The seller had a 3 for 1 deal, so she chose their companion patterns as well:

She soon started finding other pattern sources and whipped this up for a good friend of hers that just became a physician's assistant:

This one is for my daughter, Charlotte (I love it!):

As you can tell, she has really taken off with this new hobby.  I have promised to give her a bunch of my over-abundance of embroidery floss when I get around to organizing it.  I also gave her a standing offer that I would happily convert her creations into  mini quilts or pillow covers if she so desired. 

This little hobby is a great fit for her because she has a bit of an addiction to tv shows on dvd and ESPN - a way to relax after long days of being a school psychologist.  It's a pretty cozy fit to be able to do a little hand-sewing in front of the tv, wouldn't you agree?

Lastly, I figured I would give a shout-out to my mom who just finished this cross-stitch- a project that took years.  There's no way I would ever attempt anything so intricate:

"Your Andover" Finalist Competition..... Shameless Self Promotion

I received exciting news a few weeks ago when I won the weekly "Your Andover" contest after I had submitted a picture of the Lizzy House rainbow quilt I made a month or so ago.  The prize included a package of 6 charm packs (Lucky Penny, Constellations, and Asbury), a shopping bag, and 8 Savanna Bop FQ's.  It totally made my week! 

Today I received the very exciting news that I am now a finalist in the competition!  The grand prize is a $500 gift certificate towards Andover fabrics and a 135 FQ bundle of their Dimples collection.  This totally made my day - especially because it's been a rough one filled with caring for a sick baby who caught a really nasty bug.  Anyway - I could daydream for hours on what I would make with all those yummy Andover fabrics - I mean - I have a little boy who still wears his Buzz Lightyear costume everyday (only when at home of course) and I know it would be so fun to make something fun for him out of the lunar fabrics from Lizzy House's Constellations line! 

Anyway - I would really love it if you would take a minute and vote for me by liking and repinning my photo at this link on pinterest.  The photo with the most likes and re-pins wins!  Please, if you feel so inclined, spread the word.

I'll be back soon with a finished project - I can't show it's progress just yet because it's a surprise for a blog reader/friend.

36-Patch Quilt Top Completed

I actually expanded my design wall to accomodate this massive project - 36-patch blocks made out of Denyse Schmidt fabrics.  I haven't done a lot of "progress" blog posts on this because I wasn't sure how I felt about this project and I couldn't decide whether I even liked it.  I was inspired by our guild's challenge to use precious fabrics that we've been reluctant to cut into.  I used up the last of some of my KJR, FMF, and Hope Valley - I'll admit it was a little painful!

 

Sewing the 30 blocks together had to be done quickly- I snagged the opportunity on a Saturday morning when my husband was still gone on a campout and Charlotte was having her morning nap.  I cleared some space on our living room floor and got to work!

 

 

I did enjoy pulling fabric combinations together - I strived for high contrast and competing values within the pairs of fabrics rather than going for real "matchy-matchy."  I knew I didn't want to sash the blocks and that if I planned to put them close together, side by side, they better be able to stand on their own.

I couldn't get a great picture of it and Nick wouldn't agree to go on the roof, as he has done before to help me showcase large quilt tops.  It measures 90 x 108.  Not all of the points match up - there are 1,080 3" squares after all and I am no perfectionist.  Once I have this quilted and bound - I am sure I will know better whether I really like this quilt.  Sometimes - when I work on something for a while, I get really sick of it and it's hard to know if I feel it was really worth it.

WIP Wednesday

Even though I haven't finished any of the hexagon projects I started a few years ago, I decided to start a new one using Little Apples and coordinates from my stash.  Making these rosettes is so therapeutic during this cold winter.  I especially love the 1.5" size and I don't mind basting or sewing them together.  I am going to make the quilt on the cover of Hexa-go-go- the pattern is a combination of appliqued hexagon rosettes and string blocks. 

I am also working on a monster project that I don't know if I love or hate - details to come soon.

Madrona Road Challenge

I have been waiting for two slow online orders to arrive in order to continue my work on some recent wips.  In the meantime, I did something that I don't usually do: tackle a project way before the deadline. 

 

I made my project for the BMQG Madrona Road challenge.  Michael Miller fabrics generously sent our guild two yards of 7 different Madrona Road prints - they were divided among 14 guild members who signed up.  We were allowed to make anything we wanted so long as we didn't add any other prints.  I love the "Manhattan Purse" pattern - I think I have used it at least 7 times now - examples are here, here, and here.

 A good friend had asked me to make her the same purse with the fabrics she had purchased.  I don't often agree to sew other's peoples projects for them - but she is such a sweetheart and I knew it wouldn't take me too long to do - so I agreed:

Here they are together, with their matching "pocket clutches" that I couldn't resist making:

I also went ahead and finally organized my scraps.  Previously, I had stored them at my parent's house (long story short: we are quickly growing out of our apartment with the addition of the baby - an issue we hope to remedy soon!) but found that I always needed them for something.  It's such a pain to cut a chunk out of yardage when you only need a little piece for a project....  now they are sorted by color in tupperware-like containers arranged in the changing table (you've got to be creative when space is limited - beforehand, those shelves were mostly empty with a outgrown outfits lying on them.)

p.s. I know you were all planning to rush to the newsstands to get the newest issue of Quilty to see my project therein - well, I only recently learned my first project that was supposed to be in the January is slated for a later issue.  I will keep you posted!

2012 Wrap Up

Free time has been really limited lately, so please forgive the tardiness of this 2012 wrap-up post.  Pictured above is a snapshot of the ornaments I received from the ornament swap I had organized.  Thanks to all those who participated - it was a lot of fun and I really love all of them. 

In 2012, there were many highlights.  Instead of a statistical breakdown, here are a few highlights from my family life and sewing adventures:

• I had a baby girl!  Our leap-day princess has made life so much more sweet.
• I finished 15 quilts but seemed to focus more so on non-quilty items like baby things, a little home dec, and gifts.
• The Boston Modern Quilt Guild hosted an amazing quilt show at the Lowell Quilt Festival.  It was a fabulous opportunity and our guild really came through in collaborating to put on a great show.
• I had the opportunity to design a quilt for one of my most favorite fabric designers: Anne Kelle of Robert Kaufman fabrics.  It was no small feat to complete the Christmas Trees quilt when I had a newborn, but I did it and it was worth it!
• They aren't coming out till this year (2013) but I submitted some work to Quilty and two quilts were accepted and will be published in the Jan/Feb and May/June issues.

For 2013, I would like to set some goals other than the typical "use up my stash" and "finish UFOs."  Here are my ideas:

• Always have a hand-sewing project going.
• Don't be afraid of the color black - use it dominantly in at least one quilt.
• Make something with a zipper.
• Use up some of my "precious fabrics" including Liberty Lifestyle, City Weekend, and Flower Sugar.
• Make a quilt out of some of my fabrics from Uganda.
• Make some couch pillows - using the "boppy" at an odd angle to rest my head in the living room is getting old!
• Be generous in making things for others - I used to shy away from this because of a bad experience when someone completely ignored a handmade baby gift I had sent them.  It's time to get over that and use my talents to help others!

I hope everyone has a great year.  Thanks for subscribing.

Lizzy House Rainbow Quilt Completed!

When I first discovered fun, modern fabrics - I knew I liked the fabrics by Lizzy House.   Her designs are so whimsical and especially appropriate for children - girls and boys.  I also ADORE the pearl bracelet print and I am thrilled they are now available in so many colors!  Anyway, these fabrics have been sitting for too long - I combined prints from the Red Letter Day, Castle Peeps, 1001 Peeps, Hello Pilgrim - and there are even a few Outfoxed and Lizzy Dish prints in there!

 I cut 4" x 7" rectangles from my fat quarter pieces - it is a size that creates very little waste for this type of design.  This quilt actually gave me more trouble than I would like to admit - let's just say that squaring it up may have been more of an adventure than I truly cared for.  I was working on this during a very sleep-deprived couple of weeks thanks to a baby with a cold and a preschooler who finally discovered how to climb out of his bed.

 A while ago, I picked up several yards of this castle print (on sale of course), which I used for backing and I bound the whole quilt in a Hello Pilgrim stripe.  I did a simple, hurried stipple over the whole quilt using my home machine.

I have lots of leftovers of these fabrics- not sure what to do with them but they will probably be helpful in making some baby quilts in the future. 

Happy New Year!

Just a quick post to share what I have been working on: a rainbow Lizzy House quilt for my children.  Gregory's enthusiasm for it so far has just been adorable!  One of my goals this year is to sew with the children's fabrics that I own - I don't want a pile of Ed Emberley or Children at Play to be languishing in my stash when my kids are teenagers!

Christmas Sewing

Update from the last post:  A few hours after I blogged about the pillow cases for Sandy Hook, the CT quilt shop sponsoring the drive announced that they had already exceeded their goal of 4000 pillowcases and are encouraging people to donate pillowcases to other worthy causes.  They are going to do the same with their extra pillowcases.  It's so promising that so many participated!

 

On another note, this post is about sewn Christmas gifts I couldn't blog about till now.  The main project I had to keep secret was this little mini quilt I made for my husband.  The pattern is called Lil' Fox and you can buy it here.  I decided to do this project for my husband after I had had so much fun making the little paper pieced matryoshka.  Oddly, I really had a hard time making the orange fox - I had to keep coming back to it over a period of three days.  For the yellow one, the stars aligned and my children took 1.5 hour naps at the same time one day and I got it done right then!  Go figure.  It was not easy to get this done without my husband seeing any part of it given that lately I get most of my sewing done when he's home and watching the kids!

 

The last two projects weren't super secret- they just got completed at the last minute.  I used some oddly but aptly titled "pale flesh" Kona for her skin and other things I had on hand.  The free pattern is "Black Apple Doll" and can be found here.  I gave it to my daughter.

 I also used a large cut of some cute owl fabric to make a pair of pj pants for my sister.  I added an extra detail by putting cuffs around the bottom hems. 

 I am pretty happy with all of the handmade gifts I was able to make this year.  Last year, I didn't even try because I was quite pregnant and downright exhausted.  Everything I made was well received and it gave me a lot of satisfaction to use things I already had to create custom gifts for friends and family.  I still ran out of time to make everything I wanted to - I was almost going to make more on Christmas Eve- but I quickly realized that would make that special family day somewhat unpleasant if I was so focused on sewing, sewing, sewing....  Instead, I made a quick trip to Target - it was well worth it. 

Gregory loves the rocket pillow!

 

 

Santa was good to me in the fabric/sewing department.  Here are some of my favorite Field Study prints that I am so happy to have:

 These are some random and fun prints that I directed my husband to during all those great Black Friday sales. 

 My mom was very generous in getting me several sewing books - I love these!

I hope everyone else has had enjoyable holidays! Thanks for reading!

Pillowcases for Sandy Hook Elementary

I recently learned of a pillowcase drive for the students of Sandy Hook Elementary School.  It is a small thing to do.  I made 10 over the weekend and they will be mailed out today.  To make these pillowcases I used this method - the only difference is that my "accent strip" was three inches.  

These school shootings have been nothing short of horrific.  I was in high school when Columbine happened, in graduate school when Virginia Tech was attacked, and now I am mother of young children at the time of Sandy Hook.  I feel completely helpless and at a loss for words when I think about these tragedies. 

If you are interested in sending pillowcases to the cause - please mail them to: 

Quilter's Corner:  312 Danbury Rd. ( Rt. 7), New Milford, CT 06776

Add pictures and let them know how many you are sending here.  They are trying to have them in time for when the children return to school after Christmas break. 

More Holiday Craft Bash Projects

Over the weekend, I decided to tackle some more "Holiday Craft Bash" tutorials.  I made a table runner, using this tutorial by Meredith at Olivia Jane Handcraft.  It was an easy project- it honestly felt like it took longer to buy matching quilting thread at Joann's than it did to make the table runner!  (Sorry for the poor picture quality of today's post - it's so gray around here lately and I rely on bright sunlight to achieve the best photographs!)

 The runner became double-sided when I decided to use some of my Jingle leftovers for the back.

 I also made this little mini wall hanging, tutorial from Esch House Quilts, found here.  This project was quilt and easy - probably took me longer to download the triangle templates than to make the whole thing.  I added more trees than prescribed in the tutorial, I definitely had fun with the quilting. 

 I made a few more Pocket Clutches, pattern found here.  These are kind of addictive to make - it's fun to rifle through the stash to find pretty fabric combinations and they don't take too long.  The pattern gives instructions that really make for a polished, finished end product.

 For this one shown below, I told my husband it was a "Christmas miracle" because the fabric totally lined up without me even trying. 

Thanks for reading!

Scrappy Stocking

Last night I became obssessed with the idea of making this scrappy stocking from this tutorial by Jaceycraft.  It's part of the Holiday Craft Bash.  Originally, I was going to cut up a bunch of scraps of my leftover Jingle fabrics - but I decided using real scraps that I didn't have to cut would be quicker.  It also satisfied my desire to finally make something Christmas-ey without using strictly Christmas fabrics.

 It was an easy and quick projects - it especially helped that I had a stocking pattern already made among my supplies.  I backed the stocking in an older Marden's find.  This is going to be a gift for a friend who's deployed - she also quilts - so I plan to stuff it with some handmade goodies and maybe a quilt magazine or something. 

 I really, really love this photo I snapped of my daughter when I was feeding her this morning.  It perfectly captures her sweet spirit and I love the quilt block in the background.  It's a good representation of what my life is all about these days - the kids/family is my central focus - but the sewing thing is really unavoidable and it's a happy component to my routine.  I wish I had more time to sew, but I squeeze it in whenever I can!

What I have been up to

It has been difficult to find the time to blog lately.  My son hit the AWESOME milestone of being potty trained very recently, only to skip naps for the past week.  If his napping habit is truly extinguished - my sewing time is going to be even more limited than it already is. 

I have been sewing a bit, here and there.  I made Charlotte's Christmas stocking in July, so I figured I would do things out of order again and make her trick-or-treat bag in December.  (Real reason: I just wanted to make something simple one evening and I had bought some Guising from a Black Friday sale.)

 Despite still having some Christmas sewing to do, I couldn't help but start another huge quilt: a 36 patch block quilt - an ode to Denyse Schmidt.  I had originally planned to make a Hope Valley Swoon quilt - but I don't even have the pattern or the large amount of background fabric - so I figured I just needed to dive in and finally use some of those fabrics!  This is for the BMQG "Precious" challenge.

 A bunch of Madrona Road arrived last week that I needed to distribute to guild members for a quilt challenge.  Some time had to be found to cut, package, and mail little bundles to our members.  I can't wait to see what everyone makes in time for our February meeting. 

 I made Charlotte a little stuffed elephant for Christmas.  The pattern is from One Yard Wonders, the fabric is Joel Dewberry Heirloom.

 I made a pocket clutch to match the larger clutch - both wrapped and brought to a Christmas party for a gift exchange/yankee swap.

 I also made another clutch as a Christmas gift for my sister (who assures me she doesn't read my blog).

Like a cat, my baby had to get on top of this quilt when I was trying to take a picture of it.  Anyway - this quilt was a $10 thrift store find that I am seam ripping little by little (usually on long car rides).  The hand-pieced hexagons are so sweet, but the whole quilt was constructed very oddly and in a way that made laundering quite difficult. 

 I look forward to transforming these blocks into something lovely when I am finally done taking the whole top apart. 

Thanks for reading! 

Rocket to Dreamland

This past weekend, I had a ton of time to myself to sew.  On Friday night, I joined a small group of girlfriends to sew.  The hostess provided an amazing cranberry salad and banana bread - what is better than food, friends, and sewing?  Not much!  I started this "Rocket to Dreamland" pillow, a pattern from the One Yard Wonders Book.  On Saturday, we had a 6 hour sew-in/meeting for the BMQG - also a ton of fun.  I just can't believe that this darn pillow is the only thing that I finished with having had all that time!

For some reason, I seem to have this weird idea in my head that softies are easier to sew than quilts.  But let's face it, stuffed animals and the like are not easy sometimes.  They are three dimensional, often have curves, and manuevering all that stuffing is often a feat in and of itself!  I can honestly say that this is the most difficult softie I have ever made.

 Last week I finished the embroidered pillow cover.  So happy that I finally used some of my precious Girl Friday fabric!  I need to get another embroidery project going - it's so relaxing!

 Here they are together!  So cute!  I am pretty happy with the little ensemble.  I had to sneak pictures of these pillows upstairs in the kids' bedroom - Gregory will have to wait till Christmas to get these!

Speaking of Gregory and Christmas, I am excited to be able to use the "Christmas Trees" quilt that I made in the spring.  My tutorial was recently featured on the Sew Mama Sew blog here.  There are other nice Christmas tutorials featured as well - check them out!

I received a lot of positive feedback regarding my last post about fabric shopping around Boston.  I will go ahead and do a post about my favorite online fabric sources soon.  These posts are unbiased - I don't receive any sponsorships!