Maniacal Material Girls

Goings on

2012-02-01T21:44:00.001-07:00

So, I am totally ~~stealing~~ borrowing this straight from Camille’s blog, because I think it is an awesome way to document! Though, her photographing skills are WAAAY better than mine. But, I do what I can :)

Hard to believe this munchkin is already a month old (well, a few days ago, I’m slow!), time just flies!

Well, in that time, I completed that awesome quilt top that my slightly uncooperative model is posing on. It is finally ready to be basted, but I haven’t had my table cleaned off since it has been done. This quilt actually gets to stay in my house! Well, for about 18 years or so…this one is for little miss Jocelyn. It is fun to sew when you know you get to “keep” it!

I also just finished the quilt top today for a custom quilt I am in the middle of; no pictures of that one yet. I was getting the backing ready tonight and realized I didn’t have enough of one of the fabrics for what I had planned for the backing, so now I’m trying to figure out an alternative. Good times great fun!

Hopefully I will drop in again in less than a month, but no promises; the girls have a talent for staggering their naps almost perfectly to cut out ALL of my sewing/playing time. Wish me luck!

Ringing in the New Year

2011-12-31T13:12:00.001-07:00

Well, this New Year’s Eve is pretty much the exact opposite from last year’s for us. Last year, we left the 1 year old with grandma headed out to the Tempe Block Party to see Jimmy Eat World and do the whole party atmosphere thing. This year, we are hanging out at home with the 2 year old and this little one:

Born Wednesday night :)

I am sure I will inundate the blog with more pictures of this cute little girl later, but I will leave you with just the one for today. Forgive me if I slack off even more from my normal blogginess(or lack thereof) as we all settle into a new routine around here :)

And, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Crazy Busy

2011-12-09T15:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am slacking again. And I don’t really regret it! I’m 9 months pregnant, and since I last posted, I have had 3 boutiques/craft fairs, helped my mom move, been sick at least twice, finished a bunch of quilts (all for the boutiques), finished a batch of crayon totes (that I still don’t have pictures of, so still haven’t posted in my shop, doh!), and started numerous Christmas gifts. Yeah, you could say I’ve been a little busy :)

Anyways, just a peek at Zoey’s quilt I am making her for Christmas:

I basted this one this morning (with Zoey’s “help”. I love that I don’t have to “hide” her presents yet. Probably last year for that though!) I am backing it in minkee (wish me luck on quilting! Never backed with minkee before!), because I decided since the new baby will have a nice minkee backed blankie that Zoey tried to steal even before it was MADE, it would be a good idea for her to have her own snuggly quilt, too. Added bonus, she really needs some sort of bed covering besides the little blankets she has been using (fine for summer, but now not so much), and that is this one’s destination.

So there ya have it. I also sewed a bit on the baby’s “official” quilt, and on a carseat tent. Hopefully there will be a newborn to USE these things soon, because I am SO DONE. So. Done. But it’s all good :)

Have a fantastic weekend! We are off to pick out a tree this afternoon, and decorate the house tomorrow!

Little Red Riding Hood aka Super Grover

2011-11-03T11:22:00.001-07:00

Here is my cute little red riding hood girl! I figure this is the last year I get to choose her costume for her, so we went super cute :)

Of course, when I went to try the cape/hood on her, she had just watched Sesame Street, and yelled “Super Grover!!” I said yeah, that makes you Super Grover! And that’s how we managed to get the hood on for all our various parties and trick or treating :)

Best part about Zoey’s costume? ALL of the fabric was leftovers from other stuff! The red is left from Christmas stockings we made ages ago, the blue gingham was originally sheets, turned into tabtop curtains (remember when dark blue was “in”?), both from my mom’s house and going in the yard sale pile (we are doing a serious purge of her house right now; everything is going!), and the white is just my normal white Kona cotton! I even had the white ribbon and the zipper for the back on hand. the only thing I had to buy was the red ribbon and the basket (basket $3 goodwill!).

We went themed this year, so Spencer was the woodcutter. Who likes to pose when I have the camera within arm’s length. And yay all I had to make for his costume was the fake suspenders!

Ok, he kept getting called Where’s Waldo though! Apparently I did a REALLY good job on the hat, since that IS from last year’s Waldo costume…but really, since when does Waldo carry an ax and wear flannel?

And since I know you are all dying to see my costume (hah!), here it is. I was the big bad wolf dressed up as grandma :) $5 Goodwill nightgown, some quick furry gloves and ears, and fur double stick taped to my knee-high boots, and my costume was pretty easy too!

Anyways, I know this post was a few days late, but I have had serious computer issues lately, which kept me from blogging :( But should be all fixed now! Just in time, cuz I really need to get a Blogger’s Quilt Festival post up! Like, today or tomorrow!

Pictureless Monday

2011-10-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

Ok, I saw that I haven’t posted in two weeks, and felt kind of silly.

I DO have some sewing going on around here, but today and tomorrow, it is all about the kid’s Halloween costume! I really want to have it done at least a day or two before it NEEDS to be done, cuz leaving it ‘til the last minute just stresses me out :) It is being interesting though, since my kid is a fairly solid size 2, and the smallest pattern I could get was a 3-4. So far it is working out ok sizing it down a little though, and then she will have some dress up clothes later since it’s still a tad big :)

Oh and I FINALLY got something sewn together for the new baby! It is the most luscious blankie out of minkee and voile. I seriously might steal it for myself :)

Ok, and I will valiantly try to get some quilt pics posted this week too!! Now off to the real job…

Halloween Table Runner

2011-10-10T15:11:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am ignoring the fact that I have THREE completed quilts, that I DO have pictures of, to blog, and instead showing off what I just finished!

Ok, bear with my pictures, I have ZERO good lighting in my cave of a house…I promise these look so much better in person!!

So, my awesome friend Melanie came up with this beyond amazing table runner last year, and I have wanted one ever since! Seeing as it is finally Halloween time again, I finally felt justified making one.

THEN I decided that it would be awesome to make a couple of these to sell at my boutique this month (this Saturday now!). So, off I went to get supplies for 2 to sell and at least one more for me. Well, I totally misfigured while standing in the cutting line, and only ended up with enough glittery orange satin for two runners. Yeah, you heard me right, glittery orange satin. It looks so cool. And made it very difficult to photograph.

Soooo, I only have two, which I will attempt to sell on Saturday. However, if one of them happens to not sell, I think I will be totally ok with that so I can keep it for myself and not spend all that time cutting again!! Seriously, I have a bruise on my finger and made my thumb go numb from all the snipping.

If you aren’t near me and want to make yourself one of these awesomely cool runners, check out Melanie’s tutorial. (heck, if you are near me and want to make your own, check it out!). If you ARE near me, and don’t want to bruise your fingers but want one, come find me on Saturday!

And, just because it downloaded from the camera when I sat down to get these pics off, here’s a shot of me and my 27 week prego belly. Ignore the goofy look on my face, I don’t do well for pictures in sunlight :)

Have a fantabulous day!

Basting

2011-09-23T13:22:00.001-07:00

A look at my kitchen table right now:

I really wanted to have this cute little quilt ready for the boutique tomorrow (BOUTIQUE TOMORROW! Recker/Guadalupe in Gilbert 9-2! Come visit me!), but I had no ambition this morning, so I didn’t have it basted and ready to quilt by naptime. Instead, I basted it and am now blogging during naptime :) Sooo productive of me :)

Fabric: Sweetwater’s Pure and Kona Ivory

Posts two days in a row!

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Miraculous! Not only that, but this is another completed quilt!

This is the other quilt that I finished just before I got laid up on the couch with my parasite, thus never posted.

I love this quilt!! I am seriously tempted to keep it for the baby, but I think I’m going to make one specifically for her instead. We will see :)

I used my square in square method for the blocks again. I always seem to go back to that when there’s some color combo that I want to play with but not think about too much. A few blocks and a couple borders, this quilt went together really quick. Then I decided to play around with the quilting a bit.

I made myself a pattern template (out of cardstock!) for a flowery looking thing in each of the blocks, then a squiggle through the green border, and the scroll loops in the outer purple border. It was nice to try something new!

Oh yeah, and this was the other quilt that I dragged my quilt holder all around my grandparents for :)

I started out with my two solids and then pulled prints to match. The solid green is Kona Tarragon (I think! It has been too long!!), and the purple is Kona Eggplant. The back is a super cute paisley flower print from Basic Grey’s Eva line, and I used almost every bit I had for the back! the teeny bit that was left, I used for a set of burp cloths to match the quilt:

In fact, there wasn’t a large enough piece for the burp cloth, so I added a strip of solid to that one :)

The quilt finishes at 34” x 42”.

Both the quilt and the burp cloths are up in the shop (for now!!)

Oh, and time for a plug for my upcoming boutique! For any of you locals, I will be at a boutique this Saturday, the 24th, 9am-2pm at Recker and Guadalupe in Gilbert (right next to Highland High School). Come check it out and say hi to me! I’ll be the one with the quilts :)

The Post Office is my favorite place…

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I finished up that custom order from the last post! And while I am not always drawn to yellow, by the time I was done with this one I was converted! I am very grateful for custom orders that push me a little out of my comfort zone.

My customer wanted a finished size of 35” x 54”, to fit a bed. I believe this is a good size for a toddler bed, especially one with rails, since it wouldn’t have much of a drop. I wanted to try it out on Zoey’s bed, but since who knows what germs are in that cesspool, I didn’t :) She also really liked my Toss Up pattern, so we went with that, though I had to completely refigure the block sizes, which was a PAIN. But totally worth it for the end product!

I quilted a meandering flower pattern, which I think makes the whole thing super cute and feminine. And cute. Did I mention cute? And I didn’t stitch my finger :)

The fabrics were all from stash (yay!), and luckily I had enough of that Oh Cherry Oh yellow flower for the backing. The solids are both Kona; the cream is Bone and I don’t remember what the yellow is, whoops. The almost solid light pink is actually a Basic Grey grunge solid, love it! Oh, and the binding is a yellow pinstripe from American Jane’s Punctuation line.

Now, to explain my post title…so this is the first time I have had to ship internationally, so I had NO idea what I was doing with customs forms and whatnot. So, after standing in the really long line full of old people while my 2 year old shrieked, yelled, danced, and said embarrassing things, I got to the counter. I had done all my forms right(yay!), but then as I went to get my wallet out of my bag, it WASN’T THERE. Seriously. So I couldn’t pay! The lady had already date stamped all my stuff, so I had to go back THAT DAY, too. And it wasn’t the closest post office to my house…it was the one near where I was right then. Anyways, I went and met the hubs for lunch and he pulled me cash and I went back on the way home, but by then, it was 2 hours after naptime and the kid was cranky. Thank goodness there wasn’t a line when I went back!! So, that’s my saga. My wallet was still at home in my bag from the LQS from Saturday…doh! But at least now I will know what to do to ship international next time!

And isn’t that quilt just so cool? :)

What I’m doing today

2011-09-15T11:41:00.001-07:00

I’ve been working on this custom order for the last few days. Just got it basted, and gonna head in to quilt it as soon as the kid is down for her nap! Now, if I can just not run over my finger this time… :)

Oh, and somehow I miscut my backing, so it’s like 1/2” too narrow…luckily the top is just a little bit bigger than it needs to be, so I can trim it down :) But seriously, did I forget how to measure or something? Duh!!

I am one of THOSE now…

2011-09-09T09:03:00.001-07:00

So, I did something really dumb yesterday. I was quilting my garden fence quilt during naptime, and I was able to finish it rather quickly, and since I already had my machine all set up for free motioning, I moved on to the other lap quilt I had ready to quilt (a Christmas one, I haven’t show any sneak peeks yet, sorry!). Started quilting that one, and it was just zipping right along, way faster than I anticipated. I figured the kid would wake up before I could finish it (cuz really, TWO quilts quilted during one naptime? Miraculous!), but she was still quiet! Then I was getting really close to the end, so I was sort of hurrying…

DON’T HURRY WHEN YOU ARE FREE MOTIONING!!!

I have no idea how my finger got in the way, but next thing I know I am reflexively jerking a NEEDLE out of the top of my FINGER. Now, at first I didn’t even really realize what had happened. And then it started to hurt….and bleed….profusely…I ran in to the bathroom and threw it under cold water, and suddenly couldn’t remember if I had seen the TIP of the needle come out of my finger…in fact, I was pretty sure it hadn’t. Oh, yeah, there wasn’t an exit point, just the entry. So I start freaking out because there was still part of the needle in my finger, I had to go to Urgent Care, but I couldn’t drive cuz I felt like I was going to pass out, the kid was still in her room quiet, but she’d been asleep for 3 hours already, my husband wasn’t just down the street at work, he was at work far away yesterday afternoon. I hurriedly grabbed a rag, wrapped my bleeding finger, and called my mom; she should have been just leaving work, and has to drive right by me to get home, so I figured she could pick me up. Yeah, she didn’t answer…so I called my mother in law, who thank goodness didn’t go out of town until today, and she headed over to pick me up. Oh, and funny part of this: Zoey gets up from her nap with her diaper only half on, and as she walks put, it falls the rest of the way off. She got to hang out diaperless until grandma got here, because I apparently cannot put a diaper on one handed!

So, off to Urgent Care. They got me back pretty much as soon as I got in the door; didn’t even have me fill out paperwork or anything first, that was nice! But guess what? They couldn’t XRay me OR give me any painkillers because I’m PREGNANT. BAD TIMES! So, they had to poke and prod at me without any kind of numbing or pain relief…except tylenol. Yeah, I totally almost passed out at one point, so they stopped for a while. Anyways, very long story short, they couldn’t find any metal still in my finger, and recommended finding the needle when I got home to see if the point was still on. Why didn’t I think of that earlier? Oh yeah, because I was bleeding…lol Antibiotic prescription and I was on my way!

We found the needle(and know it’s the right one cuz the tip is still bloody!), and sure enough, it is still totally intact, so I’m not all worried anymore :) So now my finger is all bandaged up, and my husband wouldn’t let me sew any more last night, but I think I will go back in at naptime today!! That quilt is so close…

ps- Yeah, I never used to understand how people ran over their fingers with their machines…and I still don’t know how I did it, but I guess it really can happen to anyone!

Scrappy Rainbow Quilt- a Finish!

2011-09-07T10:43:00.001-07:00

I finally have a finished quilt to show off! I started this thing way back here, and I actually finished this quilt the week I found out I was pregnant (in May), and before I could get pictures, I was laid up on the couch. Anyway, I present to you my scrappy rainbow quilt!

I started making some random 5 1/2” blocks when my string scrap bin (a big red vines container. I’m cool like that!) was stuffed so full I couldn’t get anything else into it. I sorted out all the strings by color and went to town with no plan at all! Well, when I hit purple, my last color and least amount of scraps(had to borrow some from my mom!), I decided I needed SOME sort of a plan…so I started playing. I love the gradient look, so I went with it, and found that I only needed a couple more purple blocks and then I would be done!

Thanks to my awesome husband who let me drag him all around my grandparent’s and take pictures of quilts, he’s awesome :)

Now I have a slight rant about the back…I decided that this gray and white Ta Dot (I believe the color is Stone) would be a PERFECT back, and I had a good size piece of it, but not quite enough. So, off I ran to my LQS where I remembered seeing a bolt, got the bit I needed, and ran back home. To my horror, they were DIFFERENT DYE LOTS! Now, I know this is bound to happen, but I was so annoyed…and I couldn’t get any from the original bolt I purchased from, because I bought the end of bolt! Anyways, I worked it out so that all the dots from one piece were on one side of my scrappy back strip and all the dots from the other piece were on the other side, so it’s not very noticeable (except to me!!).

I quilted a continuous swirl that started a little off-center, (not that you can tell from the above picture, it’s just a cool pic), and started the swirl off with a cute daisy. It was fairly easy since this was a small quilt, but I don’t know that I would do it on anything bigger!

And I finished it off with a black and white pinstripe. I love how it sets off the rest of the colors and frames the rainbow! By the way, I thought it was pretty funny that I blogstalked across my quilt’s close twin while I was laying on the couch sick back in May. Rainbow, striped binding, even the quilting! I guess quilters think alike!!

I have listed this quilt up in the shop. Hurray for something new in there! It was starting to get just a little sparse, what with not sewing for 4 months…but I am definitely back in the groove(mostly), and I am still trying to keep up on my blogging! Yay!

Have a fantabulous day!

Apparently I’m Famous!

2011-09-06T09:33:00.001-07:00

How was everybody’s weekend? I had a lovely time; I basted THREE quilts, got to go on a real date with my husband, and then went up north for a couple days to get out of the heat! Oh, and while I was at my grandparents(the getaway up north!), I finally got some pictures of the quilts I haven’t posted yet! I will work on editing/sorting out all 100 of those pictures later…

But now on to what this post is REALLY about! As I was sitting eating my cereal and doing my morning blogstalking, I went to my BFF’s blog, The Crafty Cupboard. To my surprise, she has an entire post up about something I made! That is on the FRONT OF A MAGAZINE! Ok, really, I’m sure my name isn’t anywhere on/in that magazine, but my workroom and my lovely employer are!

So, go NOW and look at Melanie’s post so you can see the amazingly huge curved cornice that I sat, knelt, layed on the floor, shot myself in the side with the pneumatic stapler, dropped said stapler on my eye (I had stapler issues that week…), and all around slaved over to make! I feel all special now :)

Have a wonderful day!!

Some New Pillows

2011-08-25T20:56:00.001-07:00

Well, I did finally get those garden fence blocks put together, but it took two naptimes instead of one :) Now they just need some sashing and I will have another completed top!

I have had fabric sitting in the middle of my sewing area/master bedroom and pillow forms for said pillows in the corner of my room for literally MONTHS to make some couch pillows. So guess what? Today I finally got them figured out, cut out, and made! Woo woo!!!

The light in my house sucks!

Now, part of what makes this so exciting (besides cleaning up a bit of my room!) is that since we have been married, we have had exactly one couch pillow. That my husband and I usually want at the same time. We are not good at sharing. Spencer has been asking for new pillows for years! Oh, and did I mention that our one couch pillow was ZEBRA STRIPE? Yeah, that’s right, left over from my teenage years! Talk about a clash in décor!

The other part that makes this exciting is that all of the fabric was scrap from work, so it didn’t cost me anything! (well, pillow forms, zipper that I already had, and welt that I already had…)

They are technically not done yet, because that front blue piece is just held on my some steam a seam temporary tape, and is already pulling off (helped by the 2 year old!). I need to hand stitch it on, cuz I didn’t want any topstitching. And really, it needs some sort of trim between the two fabrics, so I hope to eventually add some flat tape trim, but they are good enough for now! Oh yeah, and the backs are the same brown with blue swirls as the front borders; didn’t get pictures of those!

And I leave you with a “pillow in action” shot. The kid claimed the pillows before I even had the forms in, and spent most of the afternoon relaxing on them, while she watched Mulan on the laptop. Not the TV, the laptop. She insisted.

I’m alive!!!

2011-08-23T10:02:00.001-07:00

I am, I am! I have finally hit the halfway mark in this pregnancy, and I feel better again! By the way, it’s a girl!! Hubby really really wanted a boy, but he’s coming around :) And at least this way we already have clothes and whatnot.

And, since I’m feeling better, I am back sewing!! HURRAY!!!

I got this quilt layed out yesterday during naptime, and I will hopefully get the blocks put together today (crossing fingers!). I also have an entire quilt top done and ready for basting!

Why all the sewing all of a sudden? Well, I have 1 boutique a month until the end of the year coming up, and possibly 2 in November, and my inventory is DOWN! 4 months of not sewing is a LOT…Oh, and since I will be 7 months pregnant and the size of a HOUSE by the big boutique in November (in Prescott Valley! More details coming as I get them for locals!) I have to get quilts (especially bigger ones) done now! Yay thinking ahead and not freaking out then!

Anyways, that’s what is going on over here! Lots and lots of plans, and me running out of time to complete them all before this kid makes her appearance. Wish me luck!! And I will do my best to get back into the blogging groove :)

Ta da da!

2011-08-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

So, we have already established I'm horrible at posting on the blog. And Kirsten has just been trying to survive the illness her new little parasite is inflicting on her, so our poor blog has been very neglected. In my defense, I have been helping her out with her first parasite as much as possible while she has been sick (not to mention all the time that my money job takes up!!!)

Anyway, I've had this quilt completed for quite a while but I finally got pictures and at long last here it is. You may remember a drawing I made while I was still dreaming up this beauty.

It's ~~hard~~ impossible to tell from the picture, but most of the strips that make up the interlocking squares are continuous strips. This was really fun and challenging to make but it went amazingly fast. Now I want to try it out in other color combinations. Zoey wanted in on the photo session and who am I to deny anything this little cutie wants!

Here is the back. With all that black on the front, it needed some brightness on the back. I just cut 10" squares from all the pieces I used for the front squares and patched it all up. Zoey is trying to find Papa, who was the designated quilt holder.

I have lots more projects to post, so hopefully this will get the ball rolling! Oh, and Kirsten is finally feeling better and has escaped to San Diego for a fun getaway before school starts up again, so hopefully she will have some great pics to post when she returns.

Disappearance

2011-06-24T09:34:00.001-07:00

Soooo, I fell off the face of the earth and haven’t blogged in what, a month and a half? Well, I still don’t have pictures of the two quilts I finished before my hiatus, but I have a picture of the parasite that is keeping me layed up on the couch all day:

Yeah, there’s my little parasite! The kind that makes me puke my guts out for a few months! I have a much closer relationship to my toilet than I would like….

But really, I am so excited! Well, except that I haven’t gone near fabric or sewing machine in far too long, and have no creative thoughts in my head right now…that better turn around soon or I might go crazy!

So, if I disappear for another little while, now you know why :)

Now I love it!

2011-06-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

A little charcoal sashing and I think I'm in love! This is how you make purple look manly!

Stay tuned for more manly solids!

Unsewing

2011-06-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

I spent some quality time with my seam ripper last night, undoing what I had spend the previous evening doing. Now I have this:

Because I don't love this:

Hopefully I'll be back next week with pictures of my solution! (And hopefully I will love my solution!)

Now I just need to spend some quality time with my camera and computer and show you all the stuff I have been working on!

Houston we have a problem

2011-05-03T11:16:00.002-07:00

Do you see that??? That is a HOLE in my FABRIC! Right smack dab in the middle of a strip I cut for a border! I found it as I was ironing, so I went ahead and ironed the crease, but the hole just happens to be right at the center fold line….hmmm, me thinks I did NOT make this hole and it came off the bolt that way…..RRR!!!
Anyways, yeah, this lovely Kona eggplant will soon be attached to a lovely little baby quilt that spewed out of my machine last week. I have a boutique this weekend, so I am sort of trying to get it done in time to have it there, but I’m not pushing too hard. If it happens, it happens.
Pictures of the actual quilt instead of disappointing HOLES soon!

**EDIT** Just to alleviate any anxiety about purchasing fabric with holes at the crease, I must post a retraction. This was fabric that Kirsten snagged from my stash. And this is what happens to perfectly beautiful fabric when you have a messy cutting area and don't take the time to make sure the cutting zone is clear before you start cutting. I didn't even know I cut it and I can't absolutely guarantee that I did cut it as the cut bit was never seen, however, given the state of my cutting table when I was cutting, I take responsibility for that hole. I thought I would just catch it the next time I was cutting on that fabric, but when Kirsten swiped it last night, I had forgotten all about the mishap.

WIP Wednesday- a new quilt

2011-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

The lighting is terrible, as is my carpet, but I had to snap a picture when I laid out these blocks yesterday.

I actually got this top mostly put together after this photo was taken, too, so there will be a cute new baby quilt showing up around here soon!

I am having issues deciding other things for this one, like backing…binding…should there be borders…any input would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and my purple scraps were so abysmal I had to borrow some from my mom. Yay she had lots of purple scraps!

Easter Revisit

2011-04-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

Seeing as it is almost Easter, and I don't have a whole lot going on at my sewing machine right now (ok, so I do have some scrappy blocks I just started, but I don't have pictures yet), I thought I would share my Easter basket tutorial again. Enjoy!

Alright, at the urging of Melanie, I have created a tutorial for these adorable baskets! And I warn you now, there are a LOT of pictures in this post! Like, going crazy waiting for all these dang pictures to upload, a lot of pictures. Anyways, on to the tutorial!

The first two steps are deciding on your basket size and choosing fabric. They kind of go hand in hand, because they might influence each other! The larger one has a 9"diameter and is 6" tall. smaller one has a 6" diameter and is 4" tall. I will give the cut sizes for both sizes, but feel free to deviate if you want!

Cut sizes for 6" diameter basket (fat quarter friendly)

Main front fabric:

1 strip 19 3/8" x 3 1/2"

1 circle 6 1/2" diameter

Lining and banding fabric:

1 strip 19 3/8" x 1 1/2" (front band)

1 strip 19 3/8" x 4 1/2

1 circle 6 1/2" diameter

Handle fabric:

3 strips 18" x 1 1/2"

Cut sizes for 9" diameter basket

Main front fabric:

1 strip 28 3/4" x 5"

1 circle 9 1/2" diameter

Lining and banding fabric:

1 strip 28 3/4" x 2" (front band)

1 strip 28 3/4" x 6 1/2"

1 circle 9 1/2" diameter

Handle fabric:

3 strips 22" x 1 1/2"

Other supplies:

12/32" cording

fusible fleece

normal sewing/cutting supplies

bodkin

Once you have chosen your fabrics and size, cut them all out! The handle fabric size might seem long, but remember that it will end up shorter once it is braided! If you want handles longer or shorter than the ones pictured, you can adjust accordingly. Figure out how long you want the handle and multiply by 1.5 for the take up in braiding.

* 1/4" seam allowances are used throughout this project except when specified!

There are many ways to cut circles, but here is my way. Use a string (in this case, I had a needle with embroidery floss on it within arm's reach, but a piece of yarn or other string tied around a pin would work just as well), put it in/on your fabric, mark the string at HALF the cut diameter(for a 6" dia. basket, mark at 3.25). Then use the mark on the string to mark your circle, like so. Hint: once you have one circle cut out, lay it on top of the second fabric and use as a pattern!

You should now have 8 cut pieces.

Now, take your main outside piece and outside banding piece, sew long sides together, and press.

Cut out and iron your fusible fleece onto your basket front, lining, and both circles. The only pieces NOT "fleeced" are your handle pieces. Hint: lay your cut pieces onto your fusible fleece and use as a cutting guide!

Next, take your two outside pieces, and stitch the short side together. Be sure to line up your banding seam or it will not look continuous.

Press your seam open. The piece should now look like this.

Now, fold the tube you just sewed, in half, with the seam on one side. Mark the fold. I used a disappearing marker. Then match the seam with the mark you just made and mark both new fold lines. Now you should have "quartered" the tube. Continue matching up your marks and marking the folds until you have "eighthed" the tube.

Grab your outside circle and fold it in half. Mark those folds.

Then line up the marks and mark the folds again. Continue until your circle has eight marks as well. Kind of hard to see in my picture...Sorry!

Now pin the pieces right sides together, matching your marks.

Sew together! I find it easiest to sew it with the circle on the bottom.

Press the seam. This part is kind of a pain since it is on a curve, but it makes it look much better! ps I have no idea why my camera put the line through this picture. It has been happening a lot lately...anyone have a tip for me?

See? The seam should be all pretty now.

Repeat all of that for the lining pieces, omitting the part about the banding but use a 3/8" - 1/2" seam allowance to stitch the lining bottom to the lining side!! Oh, and pressing the bottom lining seam is not necessary, but you can if you want to. I didn't. Once it is seamed, trim the bottom seam allowance down to 1/4".

Press the top edge over 1/4", to the inside for the outer piece and to the outside for the lining. That doesn't sound confusing at all... :)

Insert the lining into the outer piece. It will look like it could never fit, but don't worry, it will! Set this aside for now.

Ok, time for the handle. Take a few deep breaths, this part can be a little tricky! First, take a handle strip, fold right sides together matching the long edges, and sew to make a long tube. Stop about 1/2" from the end, and backstitch! Now, get your cording. Stitch it to the end where you have the little flap.

Ok, get out your bodkin (if you don't have one, a big safety pin will work too.)

Slip the bodkin into the fabric tube. See it sticking out there?

Clamp it around the end of the cording. Now you are going to turn the fabric and pull the cording through at the same time. I'm not gonna lie, this part is a pain. Push the bodkin through the fabric tube and pull the fabric down over the cording. I actually made a video to help show how to do this, but it's not loading....If your bodkin comes unclipped inside the tube as you turn it, don't panic! It happened to me at least once every single one of my tubes. Just push the bodkin back into place and reattach it.

Cut the cording about 1/2" below the end of the fabric once it is completely turned.

Repeat with the other 2 handle strips.

Once you have 3 covered cords, stitch them together at one end. Then braid! I pinned to my ironing board to hold it in place while I braided.

Stitch the end of the braid to keep it from unraveling.

Alright, now you have a braided handle and a handle-less basket, time to put them together!

Put one end of your handle between the front and back pieces at the seam. Pin. Now start pinning the outside and lining together, working around to the side opposite the seam. Pin the loose end of the handle between the layers directly across from the end in the seam.

Topstitch 1/4" from the folded edge of the fabric around the top lip, and then again at 1/8".

Guess what? You are done! Stand back and admire your handiwork!

If any of you use my tutorial to make this I would love to see! Either comment with a link or email me at maniacalmaterialgirls [at] gmail [dot]com! Oh, and if you have any questions or trouble with the tutorial, email me for that too!

Presenting…(plus a giveaway!)

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

My pattern, Toss Up!

It is officially done and up for sale! Whew! That was a lot more work than I expected :)

I had quite the adventure crash-course learning how to use Illustrator and Photoshop, let me tell ya. But it was definitely worth it!

While I worked on writing the pattern, I had the quilt sitting, basted, for at least a week while I waited for inspiration to strike on how to quilt the dang thing. I felt like it needed something a little different, but I was fresh out of ideas. Finally, with the help of my awesome quilt consult(aka the hubs!), I came up with these random interlocking squares, set on point. I just used my 9 1/2” square and marked as I went along. I think it turned out pretty cool at least :)

Oh, and notice all these fantabulous pictures? They are courtesy of my incredibly awesome friend, Melanie, who offered to help me get some good shots. SHE is the one who pushed (and shoved) me to write this pattern(mostly because she wanted it, tee hee), and I am so glad she did!

Speaking of Miss Melanie, she is hosting a GIVEAWAY for me, starting today, to debut my pattern. So, head on over to The Crafty Cupboard if you want some free fabric(and a pattern!) to make your own Toss Up quilt :)

Oh, and in case you don’t want to make it yourself, I do have the quilt listed in the shop as well. At least for now. I still can’t decide if it wants to stay and live with me or not :)

Current Projects

2011-04-10T21:38:00.001-07:00

Just so you know I'm still part of this blog, here are a couple of pictures of my current projects. One not so quilty or sewing related.

This bathroom has been the domain of 3 teenage boys for the last 7+ years and I was a little afraid to go in there. I'm still kicking myself for not taking any before pictures. You would think I would know better by now! Anyway, after the youngest boy moved out last fall, I decided it was time to take down the fishy wallpaper border and make this room grow up a little! I made my husband remove the toilet and throw it away because I refused to even touch it. Along with this little project, I also decided it was time to update all the toilets (3) in our house to more water efficient models, so I didn't need to keep the boys old, nasty toilet. (BTW, lesson learned...I used to have the attitude that as long as the boys wanted to live in dirt, it was their bathroom and I never went in there, so when they told me they had done their chores and cleaned the bathroom, I rarely verified it was actually done. Now that they are all out and I decided to start working on this room, I have discovered that if I had been checking up on them, I wouldn't have had to spend hours scrubbing the tub to get it clean. There may be a cleaning deposit required of any children desiring to move back home, refundable upon their departure, pending inspection of their vacated living spaces!) Anyway, I decided the 13 year old linoleum needed to be replaced, but I'm trying to do this remodel on a tight budget, so I headed to Home Depot and discovered this tile. Isn't it great? Wanna know the best part?

It's peel and stick vinyl tile!!! Yes, you read that right, it's VINYL!!!! Those are real grout lines. This tile is made to be installed either with or without grout and we decided to go with. It looks amazingly like real ceramic tile, even installed! It's thicker than other peel and sticks that I have used and cutting it was almost more difficult than ceramic tile (I've installed ceramic AND travertine!) but I'm really pleased with the results! I was able to lay the tile and grout, all in 1 day. I probably would have been finished in 1/2 a day, but I can't ever go with the simple, straight layout. I just love the look of tile set "on point" :)

On a quiltier (I just made up that word!) note, here's what I'm working on in my sewing room (right next door to the bathroom with the beautiful new tile).

Here is the beginning of a new quilt! Those are all rows of different shades of purple Kona cotton. They are getting matched up with some Kona charcoal and Kona ash. I'll post more pics when I have more to show. I just thought the strip sets looked so cool all lined up in the project tub, so I sent a text pic to Kirsten and she told me to post on the blog. Now back to more cutting and sewing!

You don’t think about how big a twin quilt is until you start quilting…

2011-04-08T15:54:00.001-07:00

So here is my latest finish. I really did mean to post pictures of this WHILE I was making it, instead of just popping up with another completely finished project, but the camera and I didn’t get along very well.

So, now it’s done :) And it is BIG! Well, relatively big. I haven’t made anything bigger than a lap or baby quilt since probably this time last year, so it felt rather massive, finishing at 70” x 91”.

I quilted random lines all over; a first for me. It turned out so cool! And was easier than I expected it to be, hurray!

Thank you to my awesome husband for carrying the ladder downstairs and then standing on it to hold up my quilt! He’s the best :)

I used Anthology Fabric’s High Society line and Kona Charcoal for this puppy. When I first saw these fabrics, I went meh, they are ok I guess. Then I kept walking by them in my favorite LQS…and then the exact quilt I wanted to make with them popped into my head. That’s when I started collecting a fat quarter here and therefor this here quilt. Don’t even get me started on my MESSED UP math for my border fabric…there was originally only one border….and I was NOT going to go buy more fabric! So I stole my mom’s :)

Check out the awesomeness of this back!! I LOVE the grey with yellow flower print, it is my favorite!! And I had ONE extra block, and I did not want it floating around my sewing area forever, so there it goes!

This one will be going up in the shop if it is still around after tomorrow’s boutique. Which leads me to…..if you are local, come visit the Handmade Boutique at Recker and Guadalupe in Gilbert tomorrow! We are crossing our fingers that we won’t get poured on…it is rather blustery out today, and tomorrow’s forecast is for rain…But POSITIVE THOUGHTS!

And I leave you today with a picture of my wonderful helpers. Oh yeah, and check back Monday for info on a fantastic giveaway being sponsored by ME!

Yes this looks familiar

2011-04-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

It looks familiar because you have already seen it (or its lookalike) before. When I was putting the blocks for this quilt up on the design wall, I realized I had made a few too many blocks. So, instead of working them into the back, I made a couple more blocks and put together another baby quilt for the shop.

Isn’t this photo amazing? Yeah, SO NOT my skills here! I went over to my BFF Melanie’s this week for a photo shoot for my pattern quilt, and took this one along as well to take full advantage of Mel’s skills (and better camera!)

The back looks pretty familiar too….I stuck with the same design, just different fabrics, and went with the green stripe in the middle. Note to self, get better picture of the green in this quilt…

Ooh, and my fun quilting stands out really well on the back. LOVING my new machine! And loving these flowers!

Here was my attempt at an artsy photo. But, between the breeze and the shadows, and the girls , it didn’t work so well…

Anyways, this quilt will be up in the shop if it is still around after the boutique this Saturday. Oh, and speaking of which, if you are local, here is my first plug for a fantastic boutique this Saturday! Corner of Recker and Guadalupe in Gilbert, 9am-2pm, come stop by and say hi! I will be the one with the quilts :) Well, actually I will not be there for the first couple hours, but my wonderful mom(and co-blogger) will be there to Vanna White my stuff! hope to see you there!

ps- I’m so annoyed. I had this entire post written and LiveWriter CLOSED on me…rrrrr….hope I remembered everything I had in it!

Crayon Totes Galore

2011-03-30T00:08:00.001-07:00

Quick shop update for y’all. Yeah that’s right, I pulled out the y’all. It’s midnight, I’m allowed to do stuff like that :)

ANYWAYS, I got some cute new crayon totes up in the shop a couple days ago, and wanted to share the cuteness!

See? Cuteness! Oh, and the last one is actually just an improved picture of the existing bag…I finally pulled my butt outside where there’s this thing I guess some people call light…I did mention it’s midnight, right?

Oh yeah, and I made another one that we gifted to a cute 2 year old for her birthday on Saturday, almost forgot! Oh but I’m an idiot and deleted those pictures from my computer apparently, and I don’t want to go find the camera…Imagine a cute pink and green bag with cupcakes, m’kay?

Ok, I am off to bed so I can wake up and do some more hand sewing on some awesome aqua binding. :)

Basting up a storm

2011-03-24T10:31:00.001-07:00

So I usually have more than one quilt in progress (right now, 4 that I keep switching between), but I try to have them at different stages. Does that work? Pretty much no.

To prove my point, I basted TWO quilts last Friday, and I have another one on deck for basting! Blegh, time to clean off the table again…

And yes, this one looks very familiar. I had extra blocks :)

Oh, and I was going to post a picture of the whole TWIN SIZED top I just finished, but somehow every single picture I took is blurry. And I’m not pulling it out again until I baste. It is huge. But believe me when I say, it is GORGEOUS! And totally different than both of the above pictures! Oh yeah, and I cut out 6 more crayon totes yesterday, so hopefully those will show up soon!

Quilting Basics

2011-03-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

While writing my pattern and thinking of quilting basics, I remembered this guest post I did on Melanie's blog, that I never actually posted here. It's been a whole YEAR since this was posted, I couldn't believe it! Anyways, I decided to throw it up here too as a reference. As soon as I figure out how, I will make a link or button for it to sit on my sidebar, easily accessible. Enjoy!

Hi! I am so excited that Melanie asked me to guest blog for her! I have put together a basic quilting how-to for any of you that want to jump into the amazing world of quilting. It might seem kinda involved or scary, but it can be really easy! So come on, take the plunge! You won’t regret it!

First, how about a list of basic tools:

(Notice my TWO quilts in progress in this picture...)

1. Cutting mat- very important!! You need this to uh, cut. I use this mat for almost all of my cutting. It is a 24”x36” Olfa self healing mat. This is a good size, because you can cut across a folded width of fabric. Mats can get pretty expensive, but you use them a LOT, and Joanns puts them on sale often. If they are not on sale, it is also an awesome item to use a 40 or 50% off coupon on at Joanns. I also recently added a smaller mat to my supplies (12”x18”) and it has been helpful when I don’t need my big mat(And when my big mat is put away under the crib and the kid is asleep…)

2. Ruler or straight edge- another very important tool! A great starter size is 6”x24”. That is all I had for a very long time, and it served me well. Another great item to use a 50% off coupon at Joanns on! Omnigrid and Creative Grids are both awesome brands.

3. Rotary Cutter- A must! A good rotary cutter with a sharp blade makes cutting much easier! I really like mine (Fiskars brand), though I don’t see a lot of other quilters using my particular cutter. Once again, Olfa makes great products, but pricy, and new blades are definitely an expense and something to think about. I am lucky enough that WalMart carries replacement blades for my cutter.

4. Iron- THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL!!! An iron is usually the difference between nice, matching seams and a good looking finished product and shoddy-looking, oh no I don't know what I am doing, work. You CANNOT IRON TOO MUCH! If in doubt, iron your seams! And your fabric! If your fabric is folded up before you start cutting into it (and you know it is...), iron it flat! Whenever I decide I’m in too much of a hurry to iron my fabric before I cut, I have to go back and re-square it up after it is ironed. It is just not worth it! I keep an ironing surface (a TV tray with the top covered like this tutorial from Oh, Fransson!) right next to my machine so I don’t have to move very far to iron, or even stand up. I’m lazy like that :) ps- you don’t have to have a “good” iron. I had a crappy, 15 year old iron until last summer when it died. Just have an iron!!!

5. Good quality thread- Well, thread is not optional, but if you really want to (please please don't, it's just not worth it!) you can use cheap thread. I use Gutterman thread. It doesn’t break as easily, and as Mel can attest, cheap thread = problems with quilting.

6. Curved basting pins- Not necessary, but once you have them, you feel like they are! Once you are assembling your quilt sandwich, these make the entire process sooooo much easier. Joanns sales and coupons, people!

7. Calculator- unfortunately, quilting takes some mathematics. I don’t like math, I don’t do math in my head, and I don’t trust math I have done in my head! So, the calculator lives near my machine.

8. A sewing machine- well, yeah. Unless you plan on hand piecing. I’m not that ambitious.

Whew! That was quite a list. Oh, something I didn’t include in the list was high quality fabrics. While I definitely shop Joanns for notions and even for batting (I use warm and white, and buy it by the yard), I don’t get my fabric there. Ok, I do have some, but most of it predates my discovery of my Local Quilt Stores and high quality fabric such as Moda, Free Spirit, Kaufman, P&B Textiles, and more. The better fabrics are much easier to work with, but are more expensive. Shop sales and clearances! I think I only have 2 cuts of fabric that I bought full price.

My Oh Cherry Oh quilt
There are so many awesome tutorials and patterns online, both free and for sale. When I was thinking about where to find quilt patterns, I realized that I have never made a quilt from a pattern! I usually get an idea, pull out the graph paper, draw it out and do the math. This seems like a daunting task for some, and that is why there are patterns available! There are also many many quilt-alongs going on in blogland all the time. The host usually puts up step by step instructions, and this is a great way to make a quilt if you don’t want to venture out all on your own. Here is a list of great places for tutorials, patterns, and quilt alongs:

Cluck Cluck Sew

Oh, Fransson
Old Red Barn Co. (she has a step-by-step how to make a quilt tutorial that is amazing!)

Ps I Quilt
Moda Bake Shop

Crazy Mom Quilts

A few ideas for good beginner quilts:

Plain ol’ patchwork squares. Classic, great to begin with, and with pretty fabric, it will look fabulous!

Coin quilt

9 patch (Or a variation thereof if you want a little more oomph, like a disappearing 9 patch or wonky 9 patch)

Wonky Log Cabin baby quilt

A standard quilting seam is ¼”. Many machines either come with a foot that ends ¼” away from the needle, and others have them available to buy separately. Mine doesn’t, so I have to just follow my 1/4” line. It is very important to be as precise as you can with your seam allowance, so that all of your pieces will match up when you are piecing your quilt. I am not a pinner, but if you feel like pinning will help you get your seams matched up and keep your ¼” seam allowance, use those pins!

Once your quilt top is made, and your quilt backing is ready, you get to make a quilt sandwich! Here is a great tutorial for that.

And a few tutorials for free motion quilting. I recommend straight line quilting for beginners, either on the diagonal, along seams, vertically, whatever works best with your quilt top.

Oh, Fransson!
crazymomquilts

And then binding! Truthfully, I haven’t found a binding tutorial that I completely like. My binding is a mix and match between all the tutorials. However, I think it all depends on what you are comfortable with. Here are a few good tutorials, and you can decide what you like:

Heather Bailey
Crazy Mom
Red Pepper Quilts

String quilt for my daughter

So, that’s pretty much all there is to making a quilt. If you are a first timer, and feeling a bit overwhelmed, start small. Like, doll quilt or baby quilt small. It gets easier as you do more, and I warn you now, it is ADDICTIVE! I just got Melanie started quilting last summer and look at how she is flying! If you have made it all the way through my post, thank you for reading! Feel free to drop by Maniacal Material Girls see more of my work and what we are up to lately! Thanks again Melanie!

I need a favor…

2011-03-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

**Edited- Thank you guys so much for volunteering to help me! I have emailed my new helper, and will hopefully have this pattern out soon! I will definitely be hosting a giveaway once it is ready, so keep an eye out for it!

ps- a few of you were no-reply bloggers and didn’t leave me an email, so I could not email you this info. If you don’t know if this is you or not, please check out this awesome tutorial for fixing your blogger profile!

So, I am in the midst of writing my first pattern(one culprit for very sporadic posting!), and would love to find one more pattern tester. The pattern is for this quilt:

The top takes 12 fat quarters or 1/4 yard cuts. Please let me know if you are interested! Thanks!!

ps- Happy St Patrick’s Day!

A new(ish) finish

2011-03-15T13:57:00.001-07:00

I recently completed and gifted this sweet little baby quilt to my soon-to-be-born cousin. Well, I really gave it to my aunt, but you get the picture.

I was inspired by this recent quilt from Ashley at Film in the Fridge, and the stack of pink and raspberry fabrics I bought at the recent quilt show.

Once again, this quilt was just a little too big to fit one width of fabric, so I went with my standard pieced backing. And I LOVE this back so much, it was the inspiration for some new blocks that are hanging out on my sewing table right now! More on those soon.

I quilted this one with fun flower chains running down the blocks. I am definitely loving the ability to experiment a bit more with my free motion quilting. It gives me so many more options! Though my next couple quilts will probably have straight line quilting, haha.

At first, I was going to keep this whole quilt pinks and reds, but the more I looked at it, the more I decided it needed some green. I debated backing AND binding it in green and calling it a watermelon, but I settled on just the binding. And I happened to have just the right fabric sitting in my stash!! Don’t you love those little drops? I think it’s perfect. And come to think of it, that bit of sass the green gives the quilt will probably match this new baby perfectly!

I also made a taggie and some cute burp cloths for baby and mommy.

Now we are just waiting for the new arrival to make her debut!

Shop Update

2011-03-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

Here are my newest additions to the shop:

Crayon Totes! I only have 2 up right now, but more soon to follow.

These are super fun to make, and fairly fast, though all those crayon slots are time consuming! And then I forgot to tag them until they were all done, so I had to hand stitch the tags in…doh!

Anyways, just thought I would share my latest creation! and I leave you with a picture of Zoey with HER tote that goes with us all over the place now!

Hugs and Kisses

2011-02-28T09:32:00.001-07:00

May I present to you… my latest finish! After making this quilt, I really wanted more on-point fun, so I made this one! It’s amazing how cool such a simple pattern can look! I have to remember that more often…it doesn’t have to be super difficult to be cool!

This was the first quilt I got to quilt on my new machine, and it was HEAVENLY! Rory has a stitch regulator for free motion quilting, so all of my stitches are nice and pretty instead of uneven! To celebrate, I quilted meandering flowers all over. Amazing!

So, of course the top was a few inches too big to fit a width of fabric….As I pondered how to fix that predicament, I thought about the front. What is it? A bunch of X’s! So what did the back need? A big O! Then the quilt wraps you in a big hug! I felt clever :)

Anyways, this one finished up at 46”x46”, and is now in the shop!

Oh and guess what? I am diversifying a bit! There is an item in the shop now that is NOT a quilt! And since it happens to go with this quilt, This is a fantastic time to share!

I have started listing sets of matching burp cloths! So head on over a check it out :)

So Cool!!!!

2011-02-21T17:38:00.001-07:00

Ok, I know I said I was going to post another finished project today, but I woke up with a fever and cough and whatnot (AGAIN) and just haven’t had the energy! But, then I got a phone call from my BFF Melanie. Guess who is on UCreate today? Did you guess Mel? Or me? Well either one would have been correct!

HOW COOL IS THAT?

Cool enough that I felt better for like a whole five minutes!

So head over and check out Melanie’s super amazing shower curtain, and take a gander at the sidebar and see if you recognize a certain quilt!

And hopefully I will get that finished project up for you guys tomorrow! And hopefully the plague leaves my home sometime SOON!

Happy Friday!

2011-02-18T12:12:00.001-07:00

It is Friday, and I finally have a finished quilt to show off!! Barely made my “this week” cutoff…but I DID make it!

I know I say this every time I finish a quilt, but I love this one! I’ve been dying to try out this block style since I saw them all over flickr, but I was kind of afraid it would be difficult from the comments on said flickr pictures. But, I figured out how to strip piece them,and I happened to have a little stack of fat quarters that just screamed USE ME, USE ME! By the way, this entire quilt was made from stash. So proud of myself!

At first, I thought about using a bright pink or orange solid, but settled on the lighter pink (Kona Carnation) for a couple reasons: so that the brights would stand out better, and so that the quilt wouldn’t be so bright it hurt your eyes!

I have serious issues photographing orange fabric. For some reason, the entire picture ends up tinted orange. Any suggestions?

Anyways, this is the back. A wavy stripe print from Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern, with strips of a cute little orange flower print. The orange print is also the binding, which frames the front very nicely.

There’s a less orange-washed picture of the backing, and a better shot of the binding :)

This was the last quilt I quilted on my old machine, and of course this one was a little larger than what I’ve done lately(52”x60”), so the next one was much much easier! I quilted all over loopys (my favorite!).

This one is listed in the shop.

Ooh and guess what? I have another finish to show you on Monday! Have a fabulous weekend!

Introducing…

2011-02-15T10:15:00.001-07:00

Meet Rory, my new favoritest sewing machine!

This is her straight out of that lovely box I posted last Friday. So exciting!

We have had a bit of time to get acquainted over the weekend, and she is definitely amazing! Let’s see…we quilted a doll quilt and a baby quilt (pictures coming soon), made a baby shower gift:

(check out that super cool “accessory wardrobe” back there!)

and here she is hard at work on a brand new quilt top!

Doesn’t she look right at home in my table? And can I just say, hurray for a knee lift! Oh it is glorious! Along with a whole lot of other bells and whistles, of course :)

I plan on Rory and I having lots and lots of adventures together, since she will probably be the last machine I ever own! (Part of how I convinced my hubby that she was a good purchase, tee hee)

And I leave you with this picture of the kid and I, sewing away on a drawstring backpack for one of my adorable nieces whose birthday we celebrated on Sunday! By the way, if I try to sew while Zoey is awake, she insists on sitting on my lap to “help”.

Have a fabulous day! And ps, I do have a quilt almost bound that should be posted by the end of the week, and is it fun!

EEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

2011-02-11T11:44:00.001-07:00

Look what I just carried in my front door!!!!!! EEEEEEE!!!!!!! It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!!! (ok, random movie quote…)

Now to feed the kid so she will nap so I can OPEN THE BOX!!!!

Seriously?!?

2011-02-09T08:57:00.001-07:00

So, I’m not saying anything about feeling or getting better anymore, because apparently I jinxed myself. I woke up this morning with PINK EYE! Now I can’t touch fabric ALL DAY for fear of spreading this plague!

Off to the doctor in a bit…

Those almost finished projects? Yeah, it’s going to be a bit longer…

I really have been busy…

2011-02-08T17:18:00.001-07:00

I have been very friendly with the couch and sudafed and an entire box of kleenex for the last week, but the plague is slowly being evicted from my house, and I am once again friends with my sewing machine.

Oh, and my rotary cutter has been getting quite the workout!

Hopefully I will have a finish to show….soon.

Oh yeah…

2011-02-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot, here’s my fabric loot from the show last weekend!

I kind of went on a bit of a pink/raspberry spree…I believe a new quilt will soon be designed…

Oh, and you know what those two lovely bundles are? CENTRAL PARK!!! Kate Spain is a freakin’ genius :) Unfortunately, the lovely ladies at Above All Fabrics (love them!) had already sold out of the other two colorways by the time we got there, but I will get them! I will! I actually had plans to order yardage as soon as it came in, but we made an unexpected BIG SCREEN TV purchase Friday afternoon…The joys of having a brother working at an electronics store to alert you to fantastic sales!

Anyways, back to the show. I also got a cool do-hickey to mark seam allowances for half square triangles, and an itty itty bitty screwdriver. I will have to get pictures of that soon!

By the way, I have two quilts almost ready for basting! More on those soon too!

Krystal’s Baby Quilt

2011-01-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

I received word that this quilt has reached its new owner, so I can post it now!

I usually take my quilt pictures inside, so having to battle the little bit of wind that was going was so not cool! Anyways, while at a play group at the park, I got my friend Kristin to assist my efforts to snap a picture before I went to the post office.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any close-up pictures! So, the sashing is two shades of kona; I think it is brown and espresso…I REALLY have to start marking my solids when I buy them! The blue diamonds are mostly prints from Sweetwater’s Pure fabric line, though there are a couple others mixed in, too. The border is a brown with blue pindots, and the binding is a blue and cream pinstripe (both Pure, too).

I had issues with the back of this one…So, I measured the top and the backing, and the back was about an inch too narrow…I added in one blue strip(same fabric as binding), and then went to baste. I baste on my kitchen table, so about 6” was hanging off one side. When I went to move it to put in the last few pins, somehow my backing was TOO SMALL!!! Too small?? I measured it! Why is it too small? I was sooo mad! So, I unpinned all of my basting, cut the backing again and added in another strip. Problem solved!

Can I say I love this quilt and this pattern? I am definitely making this one again and again, in many other colors!

Oh, by the way, I made this quilt for my old roommate, who is due to have her baby in just a couple weeks. So Krystal, you can pop that baby out now! ;)

Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival

2011-01-29T01:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival in Phoenix, so Kirsten and I and Kirsten's bff, Melanie, loaded up Mel's 2 little munchkins and fought our way through the hoards of other fabric crazed people and helped the economy just a bit. This was Melanie's first time, mine and Kirsten's 2nd. We had already scoped out the map and knew where our 2 favorite quilt shops were going to be, so first we headed to the one that we only get to see at the shows, but they are also online and located right here in Arizona! Above All Fabric has the greatest selection of modern fabrics that they bring to the shows! I got a FQ bundle of All Star 2 by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake. I also got a few 1/2 yard cuts from that same line as well as some other fabrics that were dying to come home with me. Smart blogger girl Melanie (who has an amazing camera! And mad photo skills.) took some pictures of their booth and managed to capture Kirsten, who was watching her goodies being bagged up and Mel's fabric being cut and also the VERY patient ladies that were cutting our fabrics. I always feel a little sorry for the ladies that have to deal with me and Kirsten when we are on a fabric buying frenzy because we usually buy a few of the same fabrics and have to pass bolts back and forth and try to keep them straight on how much we each want of each fabric. Today was no different and we even got Melanie into the fray since she had already picked up a bolt that I wanted a cut from! Anyway, it really makes our shopping so much fun and these ladies are super nice and I will definitely be ordering some Central Park yardage from them online when it gets in, probably MONDAY!!!! It's already on the truck and on its way, but didn't make it in time for the show.

Then we finished wandering through that building, scoping out lots of other vendors. We got to stop and watch some ladies with spinning wheels turning fuzzy stuff into yarn. Okay, so that's how I explained it to Melanie's 4 year old that I had kidnapped and was pushing in her stroller around the show.

Then we went to the next building, yes, 2 full buildings of vendors to peruse! In the next building, we found the Bernina dealer and got to take a spin on an Artista 630 and try out the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator). OH.MY.GOSH!!! Can I just say I might consider giving up food to save up money for one of those (actually any Bernina with the BSR)!!!!! I had actually spent a few drooly minutes with an Aurora 440QE at a shop a few weeks ago, but Kirsten and Melanie had their first experience today and we have all agreed that maybe we should stop buying fabric and start saving up for new machines.

But we didn't exactly start on that fabric fast yet, since our very favorite local fabric shop had a booth just a bit further on and we didn't resist a stroll through. 35th Ave Sew and Vac has the very nicest ladies that work there and we haven't gone a month without going to their store since we discovered them about a year and a half ago! They always have a fun selection and they generously put coupons in our local coupon magazines that come in the mail, so we get great service and also nice discounts. (incidentally, that's the shop that rang up my sale at $18,976,685.94 and practically gave the sales lady a heart attack! Kirsten and I just laughed and took a picture of the cash register!) Anyway, they had Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister (I love their designs!!!) on their shelves and I have been dying to get my hands on some of that, so 12 little fat quarters found their way into my bag! After I got home and looked it over, I decided I will have to visit their store very soon to get some yardage, too! (darn)

Oh, so do you want to see a picture of my pretties?

Since my stash has grown ridiculously fast since I have rediscovered the happiness that is sewing and fabric, I decided to start tracking my purchases/usage. Not to post regularly but just so I would know. And being the computer geek that I am, I set up an Excel spreadsheet so it can do all the math for me. So, those 3 pretty little piles? Mostly fat quarters and 1/2 yards? Yeah, that's 14 yard of fabric right there. I feel a little gluttonous!!! Guess it's time to start saving for a new machine and work off my stash for a while!

Mug Rugs

2011-01-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got to attend my first Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Saturday, and I had so much fun! How awesome is it to be surrounded by people who not only understand your quilty obsession, but share it? Fantastic!

Anyways, we had a mug rug swap while there, and here is my contribution

Front:

Back:

I had some questions as to how I pieced my front, and I had to admit, I didn’t really know! I set out my scraps sort of how I wanted them to go together and started sewing bits together! It was fun, though I did end up with one Y seam; poor planning! The solid is Kona Coal, and the rest of the fabrics were all scraps, hurray!

And here is the amazing mug rug that I received!

It is already pinned to my wall above my machine :) But ew bad lighting in my room, sorry!

Here’s all of the lovely mug rugs hanging out together.

Fronts:

Backs:

By the way, the cute one with the little 1” squares on the front was the one my mom made :)

I can’t wait until the next meeting, so fun!

Wednesday Project

2011-01-19T14:54:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to show a quick peek at my current project.

Since my last uhh….at least four quilts have been in a bit more subdued and boyish colors, I was itching for some brights and pinks!! This definitely fills my bright and pink need :) And did I mention, this entire quilt is coming from stash? Woo woo!

I have two blocks completely finished; I had to make sure I was doing things correctly before I cut up all my fabric. This one is going to be fun! And I’m using best press for the first time…my first block went a little wonky…but the second one is almost right on, so, right on!

Still binding the quilt in my last post, and now I have a cute little mug rug to bind, too! I will show that off after Saturday’s Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild swap.

Happy Wednesday!

One of those…

2011-01-17T13:34:00.001-07:00

This has been one of those quilts where one thing after another goes wrong…Well ok, it was really only a couple things that went wrong, but still! Now it is ready to have the binding hand stitched, hurray! Once it has winged its way across the country I will be able to show you what it actually looks like. By the way, it looks SO COOL! I am definitely making this one in other colors, too. It’s a good thing I made this specifically for one of my favorite people or it would SOOO be living on my couch instead of getting shipped!

Walk in the Park, part deux

2011-01-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

So guess what? I just finished my first commission quilt, how cool is that? See, custom work is nothing new to me, since that is what my “day job” is, but this was my first custom quilt.

And look at how good it turned out? I think I shall call this baby…hmm…Second walk in the park. Tee hee! This is my Walk in the Park’s baby brother; it is only 36”x44'” finished size.

I used my square in square method (again) for these blocks, then added a border, and voila, a super cute quilt that is on its way across the country to live in a little boy’s nursery!

I backed it with this lovely fabric from Kate Spain’s Verna (oh Verna how I love thee!), and I used an Amy Butler dot as binding. And wow do I like binding smaller quilts! They take so much less time!!!!

And since this quilt is destined to be a wall hanging, I added a rod pocket to this cute thing. And I had my wonderful assistant (aka Spencer) help me model it too. Thank goodness he was home while I was taking pictures! It’s hard to tell, but I have a clear acrylic tube through the pocket in the photo. That’s what I had available at the moment :)
So overall, I declare my first commission quilt a success! Oh, and I have a new project on my wall right now, more on that one soon!

Handmade Christmas

2011-01-07T12:25:00.002-07:00

Yeah I know, Christmas was weeks ago, but I couldn’t post these BEFORE Christmas, lest the recipients spy them out!

See, I have four awesome sisters that are all either teens or very close to it. And what does every teenage girl need? That’s right, a cute purse! And oh guess what? I have lots of fabric sitting around begging to be made into cute things, so I found out favorite colors and got to work!

I wanted to keep every single one of these bags! But I was good and actually gifted them :)
The far left and center right bags were made with the buttercup bag pattern from Made by Rae, and the far right and center left were made with the Juliet Bag pattern from Me and My Sister. I did shrink the Juliet bag to 70% size though, cuz I wanted a cute little bag. But now I think I’m going to make a full size one for myself…time for a new purse!
And while I was thinking about my handmade Christmas stuff, I realized I made another gift but TOTALLY forgot to get pictures! Luckily, it was for my mom, so I will get pictures to post soon! It’s not cheating to “borrow” someone’s scraps to make them a gift, right? Tee hee!
Have a great weekend all! I am feeling much much better today, so I am off to enjoy naptime the best way possible…quilting!

Awesomely Amazing

2011-01-06T14:23:00.001-07:00

Sooo, I am sitting on my couch wishing that this nasty cold I caught would have chosen someone OUTSIDE my household to attack…And since the kid is definitely not letting me sleep, what better way to pass the time ‘til the relief aid gets off work than to write up a blog post?

These are the awesomely amazing quilts I made for the awesomely amazing twins, Logan and Jaxson! Their mom has been my friend since high school, and was my roommate for a few years during college. So of course when they announced they were having twin boys, I started getting to work on some quilts!

When I started planning these twin quilts, I had no idea what to do. When I thought twins, I thought matchy matchy, but then I thought well that’s no fun! First, what’s the fun in having the same exact quilt as your brother? Second, what better way to spark fights in kids? “That one is MINE!” “No it’s not, it’s mine!”

My solution? The same quilt pattern, but with completely different fabrics! That way there is never a question of whose is whose, but there is still that element of similarity.

And I think it worked out pretty well!

Here’s my favorite part! This was the last scrap of this turtle print I had, and I knew I had to include it, but there wasn’t enough left for a large center block, and if I made it the small size it would cut the poor turtle up! So, this one block is a different size. AND the surrounding blue fabric is the only fabric that is in both quilts.

I totally would have had these quilts done BEFORE the boys were born, but as is the nature of twins, they came 10 weeks early (right Joanna?). I think I was partway through quilting when they were born. But that’s ok, I didn’t gift them until the baby shower almost two months later :)
So there you have it; the awesomely amazing twin quilts!

What I got for Christmas

2011-01-04T11:29:00.001-07:00

Before I show off the awesomely cool twin quilts, I decided I would share all the cool stuff I got for Christmas this year! My loved ones really do love me, cuz check out all the cool sewing/quilty stuff I got!

Kona Coal and White, some Martinique yardage to make myself a skirt, A Verna jelly roll that my mom has been hiding from me for SIX months, enough thread to last me a few months(tee hee), and some various notions. Oh, and if you are wondering what the package with the sticks and tubes in it is, t is the COOLEST thing ever! It is called a Turn It All, and it makes turning fabric tubes super easy! Once you use one, you never want to mess with a bodkin or a big safety pin or any other turning method again!

Anyways, I was pretty dang spoiled this Christmas, and wanted to share :)

A New Year!

2011-01-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

Is it really 2011? Does it seem like 2010 just raced by for anyone else?

So, to start off the new year, I am showing off the last two newest additions to my shop. They have only been listed for what, a month? :) Then I have a pair of awesome, adorable quilts to show you that went to my good friend who had TWINS at the end of October, and then I can finally show off all the good stuff I made for Christmas! A little late. Oh, and I might have a current project or two :)

Anyways, this first quilt was born from a desire to do a plain old patchwork quilt, and a desire to use that super cute car print you see in there!

Ironic that now that it's done, I wonder if it would have looked better without that print included!

The hubs said this quilt looked vintage-y to him, so I named it the "throwback quilt". Or he might have called it that...I don't remember. But he is very helpful throughout my quilting process! If he is home while I am basting, I get him to come look and tell me how to quilt that particular quilt if I am having trouble deciding. And he is usually right on the money for choosing the best way to go!

So this one ended up with vertical line quilting. It's not over-quilted, so it's still soft and snuggly :)

I love this backing fabric. When I bought it, I had NO idea what I would use it for, since at the time I didn't have any fabrics that remotely went with it. But look at that, it totally worked for this one!

This one finished up at 41"x45", and it is listed in my shop.

I will spare you the long story of how this quilt came to be, and why it ended up in my shop, since this post is getting rather long and wordy...Suffice it to say, it's cute and it's here!

The solid blue is Kona Royal Blue I believe, and most of the other fabrics are Animal Party.

I went with a solid brown binding, and now can't remember which kona it was! Need to start labeling them when I buy them...

I found this cool stripe in an end of bolt bin at a LQS just as I was finishing the top, and knew it had to be the back! Luckily, the piece was just big enough :)

This one has some straight lines sort of outlining the bricks, and finished at 34"x40".

So here's to the new year with some (hopefully) more consistent blogging!

Another finished quilt and a tip!

2010-12-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

Wow look at me, two blog posts in a week! Maybe I am finally getting back on track!

Today I want to share another of my recent finished quilts. Now, this is soooo not my normal color palette, but when I ran across a Martinique honey bun on sale at my LQS, I couldn't resist! It was just so PRETTY! Not me at all, but so feminine and pretty!

I went with super simple and just sewed all the strips together. I have wanted to do this with a honey bun for AGES, and that was the plan when I purchased this particular honey bun, but it had been sitting in my stash for 6 months before I finally got to it.

Since the top piecing was fairly basic and straight, I knew I wanted quilting that was more elaborate than my normal free motion or straight line abilities. I had tried to free motion quilt flowers before, but I was REALLY bad at it, mostly because I couldn't figure out where to stitch next fast enough and messiness ensued...Then I had a BRILLIANT idea that I will now share with you! Before I basted the quilt, I ironed freezer paper onto the ENTIRE quilt top and drew my quilting lines on first! Then I pin basted straight through the paper.

It worked AMAZINGLY well! I knew exactly where to go to stitch, so I have stitching that actually looks like flowers on my quilt! Now, quilting was a pain, cuz the paper made the whole quilt a little stiff, and I had to tear off chunks of paper as I quilted so I could stuff the quilt under my machine, and at the last bit most of the paper wasn't ironed on anymore, but it was still held on with the pins, so I will definitely NOT do this on any quilt bigger than this, but for this size and smaller, it was SO worth it!

I love this flowery print I used for the back! I am still debating going back for more (in any of the colorways!) to make myself a skirt!

This one finished at 43"x43". That seems to be my average quilt size lately...it's so nice to not have something ginormous to work on!

I used a pretty polka dot from the line for binding. There were so many good choices to choose from for binding fabric, but I finally decided to stick with dots :)
This one is listed in my shop, and will also be available at a local boutique this Friday and Saturday. Actually, I guess this is a good time to inform you about said boutique!

I would like to invite you all to {Handmade} Boutique, happening this weekend here in Gilbert, AZ!

We have some super talented women contributing to this boutique, and I would love to see you there!

Walk in the Park

2010-12-07T07:00:00.014-07:00

Alright, I promise I'm not dead or anything, I am here!
I have mentioned that I am a terrible blogger, right? I have? Oh good :)

So I did finally get to photographing that stack of quilts that was sitting around, and I think I will share one today! (Finally!!) And instead of starting with the one that has been sitting neglected the longest, I'm starting with the newest, because it is just so dang pretty!

Spencer has named this one "Walk in the Park", since it's kinda nature-y and flowery and leafy and whatnot. I once again used my square in square block method to piece this one. But, once again, as much as I love these blocks, I got bored and antsy after making 20. Since I wanted to have a larger finished size, I added a pieced border, something I don't do very often. Yeah, I will be doing that more now, because I like it!

It ended up finishing at 48"x58", and is a great lap quilt size.

And have I mentioned I love a pieced backing? Well, let me mention it now! The main blue in the backing here is a print from the Verna line by Kate Spain (I love her fabric!!). I also had a good size chuck of this awesome large scale floral that I used a bit in the front, but couldn't bear to cut up any more. Ta da! Awesome backing fabric!

I straight line quilted this one because I really didn't want to wrestle it around in free motioning, and because well, it just looks good :)

I used a fun wavy line print from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern for the binding, which looks great(at least I think so!). This pretty pretty quilt is now listed in the shop, and will also be available this weekend at the Handmade Boutique in Gilbert (at a discounted price!) for any of you who are local. Come on out and support some local "crafty ladies"!

Holiday Homemakers Sale

2010-11-19T13:43:00.002-07:00

I love you all, and I don't want to annoy you with advertising, but well, I'm gonna advertise. Well, we will call it INFORMING instead of advertising :)

I am participating in a boutique tomorrow, and would love to see some visitors! I will be selling quilts: all of those currently on my etsy site plus 5 more that haven't made it online yet. And a few of my etsy quilts will be on SALE at the show! My friend and I will also be selling these super cute coal sacks, awesome stocking stuffers!

There will be some other awesome and talented vendors with cool stuff too!
Jewelry
Hair bows/flowers
Bow boards(these are sooo cool!)
Scentsy
And more!

For anyone interested, it will be from 8am-2pm tomorrow, Saturday 20, at the S.E. corner of Recker & Guadalupe in Superstition Highlands, Gilbert - follow the signs!

Thanks tons for putting up with all of my, uh, informing, and hope to see you there!

I hate coming up with post titles

2010-11-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

Preparations for the boutique on Saturday(eek, only 2 days away and still much to do!) continue around here. I have added two more finished quilts to the growing stack that I have yet to show off; I just counted and there are SEVEN unphotographed fnished quilts sitting here! Ok, I have my naptime activity today...
Anyways, along with my quilty preparations, my awesome friend Melanie came up with a super fun item for us to make for this boutique. So, off I went on Tuesday to craft! We decided it is way more fun to craft with someone else than all by our lonesome!
Of course, lame blogger that I am, I forgot my camera! Luckily, Mel is much more blog responsible (and has a much better camera!), so she snapped the pictures. And put up a fabulous post! So, I now direct you to visit the Crafty Cupboard to see our fun!

ps- Hurray for no face shots in those pictures since my hair was still wet and I had not a speck of makeup on!

All quiet on the blog front

2010-11-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

So, the blog has been pretty quiet lately. Closer to completely silent than quiet, really... But that is because I have been sewing up a storm and haven't taken the time to 1) take pictures of whatever I am working on or 2)uuhh, blog about it. I'm lame, I know.

Besides some awesome halloween costumes (Waldo, as in Where's Waldo, Wenda his girlfriend, and a super cute punk rocker; pictures to come!), I have this whole stack of quilts that need to be photographed:

Yeah, I already admitted I was a lame blogger. I am WAAAAY behind!

And I started this one this week:

Blocks made with my square in square tutorial. I love these blocks, I can't seem to make enough quilts with them! I am participating in a Holiday Boutique on 11/20 (If you are local and want more info, let me know! The coordinator is still looking for vendors, or if you want to shop, I can get you that info too!), so I hope to have this one done by then, but I want it to be on the bigger side, so who knows if that will actually happen!

Drawstring Backpack Tutorial

2010-10-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Warning, super super picture heavy post!! I have step by step (by step!) pictures for making this awesome easy(ish) drawstring backpack! And may I say, wow blogger took FOREVER...

Alright, most of the directions are on the pictures, and each picture is numbered. I refer to picture numbers in a couple steps :)

Materials:

Yardage requirements for 1 fabric bag(straps/casing/body all one fabric): 3/4 yard

Yardage requirements for 2 fabric bag(pictured): 1/2 yard for body, and 1/2 yard for straps and casing

Matching thread

Important!!! IRON YOUR FABRIC before you cut it out. It will make your life soooo much easier.

Cut sizes:

Bag body 14" x 30"

casing 4" x 14" (cut TWO)

straps 4" x 34" (cut TWO)

I use something called french seams on the body of this bag (pictures 2 and 3). You can just serge it if you want, but I like the finish of french seams for the inside of the bag.

Now time to prep the top casing:

And now the straps:

Ok, back to the casing.

Alright, now to attach straps to bag body. I apologize for the somewhat crappy pictures and instructions for the straps. I realized midway that I should have had the bag turned how it is in pic 18 so it would make more sense...

Time for the casing!

As always, if you have any questions or need clarification or whatever, leave me a comment or shoot me an email! I'm finishing this late at night, and it makes sense to me now...I will definitely need to proof it again in the morning! :)

Twinkly Stars Quilt Finish!

2010-10-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

It is finished! I finished up the binding on this cute thing on Sunday night, and now I want all my quilts to be this small, because it seemed like the binding took no time at all!

So, all the star fabrics are SCRAPS, how cool is that? I feel so accomplished, I busted some scraps! Though, like I said in this post, I got bored of making stars after making these 9, so I decided that a small quilt was in order!

I used this awesome Jennifer Pagenelli stripe I had sitting in my stash begging to be used. It frames all that white on the front great!

When I asked my quilting consultant (aka the hubs!) what I should use for the back, he said it needed some BAM! Off to the stash I went again, and I found this print that was also begging to be used! I bought it thinking I would use it in Zoey's string quilt, but decided it would look better in something with bigger pieces. Well, BAM! It works perfectly as backing; then you do't lose the awesome print!

This is my favorite star. The center block on it is only 1 1/2". It's so tiny!

I quilted with an all over loopy (still one of my favorites!), but I made smaller loops than I usually do, since this quilt is so tiny.

Oh and I tell ya, when you start quilting something, check the back for tension problems RIGHT AWAY! I got almost 1/4 of the way done with this one and THEN remembered to look...Yeah, the seam ripper and I spent some quality time together...But now it looks fabulous, so that seam ripping was worth it :)

I have listed this pretty little quilt in the shop, so it can find someone to love it as much as I do!

A Sneak Peek

2010-10-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Just so you know I haven't been slacking (except in the blogging department!) here's a little peek at what I have been working on. Got it basted last night (SO not my favorite part of quilt making!!!) but my machine has been a bit under the weather, so I'm taking her in today for a little check up and adjusting. Hopefully I will be quilting on this one soon!

Like I need something else...

2010-10-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Why do new ideas pop into my head when I have ten gazillion things to do?

This stuff doesn't happen in Arizona!!!

2010-10-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

So, we had a crazy bad storm yesterday. It was naptime, so I was in sewing and listening to an audiobook. It had been thundering for a while, but then the lights started flickering and I could hear wind and loud rain. So, I went out to look out our balcony. All I could see was the tree right next to our balcony practically bent over, and WHITE. I couldn't see the parking lot(usually VERY visible), I couldn't see ANYTHING but blowing rain and hail!

And then my entire apartment SHOOK.

I'll admit, I kinda freaked out. I like Arizona because I don't have to worry about things like hurricanes or tornadoes or earthquakes. And I felt like I was in the middle of it all!

Anyways, the craziness lasted another 10 or so minutes, and abruptly cleared. From my balcony I could see 3 fallen trees and lots of branches, so that didn't bode very well. And my street looked and sounded like a rushing river. Cars driving by had water up to the car body. It was insane.

And my little spot wasn't so bad! Zoey and I took a walk this morning to snap pictures of some of the damage around us.

Luckily this tree just decided to rest on the covered parking, and there wasn't a car underneath!

Another uprooted tree. It's leaning on the fence...

This is what our walk was really for. This billboard is about 1/4 mile away from our apartment on the main road. It was straight up and down yesterday morning.

Seriously crazy. That huge piece of metal is TWISTED.

When I drove by this yesterday afternoon on the way to work, the huge tree that caused all of this damage was still on top of those poor cars. The wood chipper was at work this morning!

I feel really bad for our maintenance guys right now...They have so much work ahead of them!

Here's the trunk. It took that whole chunk of ground out with it! (It was a ginormous pine tree)

Walking back, we found another building that met a tree.

And then I rounded the corner to go get our mail, and found ANOTHER huge tree uprooted!

Aaaaand another one!

I could hear the wood chipper working in the back of the complex where we didn't venture, too, so I imagine there was a lot more going on than I saw on my little walk. There are branches littering the ground everywhere. And guess what? It's getting gray outside again. Hope it isn't as bad as yesterday!!

Hopefully I will have sewing related stuff to post soon instead of destruction!

My table right now

2010-10-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

So, remember how I was going to try to slow down a little? Yeah, didn't really happen. Since that post, I have pieced two quilt tops, basted and quilted one of them, and this one is sitting on my table ready for pins. Oh yeah, and I got two more quilt tops planned and cut out this weekend. Slow down, bah! Maybe when I'm dead :)

Anyways, this one started out as a scrap buster project. I've wanted to try out some wonky stars for a while, and my pink and green scraps happily agreed! But...I made 9 and got a little bored... 28" square is a good carseat/stroller/playmat quilt size! Tee hee.
Still have no idea how I am going to quilt this, so it might be a little while until I actually have it finished, but it's been sitting on my kitchen table, and decided it was time to baste and get it off of there!
That's all for now; have a fun Monday!

Another finished quilt!

2010-09-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hurray, I finally get to show you my charm pack quilt along quilt!

This was a quilt of firsts for me. It was my first quilt-along, my first quilt out of Eva(Though probably not my last!), and the first time I did this kind of quilting!

Usually I try to go minimalistic on my quilting, because I like a nice soft quilt, but this quilt shouted at me to quilt it just like I did! And it looks SO COOL! And surprisingly, it's still pretty soft, so I'm happy :)

I also decided against giving this one away(or selling it!). I haven't kept a quilt in a while, and I decided that I had to keep this one. And it's a good thing too, because Zoey keeps taking it down to sit on!

Alright, this is now my most favoritest quilt back ever! In fact, I have a quilt TOP very similar to this in my head now!

Amy Butler's Midwest Modern happens to match Eva perfectly, and I had this honeycomb laying around that I knew would be awesome for the back, but I only had a yard. Combine that with my leftover dark charms, and some Eva yardage and you get this! Pictures don't even do it justice.

I went with this dark purple for the binding, mostly because I knew it would look awesome framing the back(and the front...), but also because I had it :) And the little dots on the binding are so cute!

The quilt along had borders on the quilt, which would have looked really good, but I decided against adding them. I didn't want or need to make a bigger quilt. When I started on this, I had just finished my ginourmous bed quilts(that I still need to post, eek!), and was soooo done with big quilts! So, this one is 49"x49", and just right for my toddler to toddle around with :)

Whew! Can't believe I finished 3 quilts all right at the same time! It was fun, but now I'm taking it slower again; that burned me out just a little. don't worry, I have something up on the design wall right now(yeah, I made myself a design wall yesterday!), but it is progressing slowly. Maybe I will share tomorrow ;)

Finished Coin Quilt

2010-09-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was going to post yesterday, but well, I didn't :)

Today I get to show off this lovely quilt! I have had the strips cut out to make this for months and months, and I finally put them together!

I didn't know quite what was going to turn out when I started sewing; all I knew is that I wanted strips of pinks and oranges and strips of blues and greens. Well, that's what I got!

I quilted double lines diagonally, and since I went corner to corner, it made a super cool diamond pattern.

I have made at least 3 quilts out of this line, and I am STILL in love with it! Which is good, cause I still have a stack of fabric...

I had an extra strip of both colorways after completing the top, so I split them and worked them into the back. Choosing the other fabrics to use for backing and binding was super hard! But I love how it turned out.

While I was sewing the binding, Zoey kept pointing out the birds and the flowers :)

And I love the leaf dots fabric for binding, I think it looks so cool!

Overall, this was a super easy, fast, and fun quilt to make! I have listed this one in my shop.

For inquiring minds:

finished size 39"x48"

fabric is Park Slope by Erin McMorris

white fabric is Kona white

Stay tuned for my finished Charm Pack Quilt Along quilt! I will try really hard to get it posted tomorrow :)

Cupcake Power!

2010-09-24T09:12:00.001-07:00

In the last month or so, I've had a ton of quilts pop into my head that had to be made. And they have mostly been girly. And in this case, little girly. But I thought hey, I have a few expecting friends right now, at least one of them has to have a girl to gift these quilts to!(Though let's be honest...I would probably end up making one specifically for them...but well, I have to have some justification somewhere!) And in the last month or so, I found out that all those friends are expecting BOYS! And while that is awesome and wonderful, now I need to get my brain to switch gears and think boy!

Anyways, this quilt was one that was beating around in my head and had to be made, and is now done!

I had the cupcake prints, and knew I wanted a bit of randomness around them, so I made a disappearing 9 patch. Love this pattern, it's so fun and easy!

As I basted, I looked at the top, and couldn't figure out HOW to quilt it! I didn't want stitching going through the fun cupcakes, so I decided to outline the squares with stitching. But then what? Luckily my hubs was home for lunch right then, and suggested outlining the rest of the bigger squares. Perfect! Just enough quilting for sturdiness, but not a ton, so this quilt is still super soft!

I went for a pieced back on this one. I'm trying really hard to use what I have instead of going and buying more!! And guess what? This quilt was TOTALLY from stash! Hurray!! I think I will go buy some fabric tomorrow to celebrate :)

Choosing a binding was difficult for this one too. There is just so much going on in this quilt that any color I thought of just seemed wrong! So, I finally settled on this cute little pink flower print. I like it a lot more now that it's done that I did in the beginning!

Finished size ended up at 40"x48". And since I have nobody to gift this to, and I am already keeping one of the THREE quilts I just finished (that's right, 3! Check back Monday to see another one!), I have listed this one in the shop.

Have a wonderful weekend!

I want you, I need you,

2010-09-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

oh baby, oh baby! This little(or big...) stack of fabric makes me drool!!! Why oh why do we have to wait 'til JANUARY for this gorgeousness to come out???

Photo from Kate Spain's blog

ps- 10 points if you can name the movie my title came from!

I have to remember to title my posts...

2010-09-20T07:00:00.002-07:00

So, I have been working on this quilt for a while now, but I couldn't post anything about it until now because the recipient reads this blog!

One of my good friends is having a little boy(hopefully next month, right Kristin? :) ), and her baby shower was on Saturday, where she recieved this!

I went for fun, bright primary colors this time (as you can see...), and most of the prints are from Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel line. Can I say I love this line? It is so fun!

I quilted vertical lines about 2 1/2" apart in white thread. I wanted more quilting on this one than most I do since I have a feeling this will get used pretty hard :)

The back. Ok, so originally the front was going to be bigger, but once I got the blocks layed out, it looked big enough without this last row. Now it lives on the back! Let me tell you, basting this was a little tricky, since the front and the back were EXACTLY the same width. Lots and lots and lots of pins went into this baby! And guess what? Totally matched up! And didn't shift!

I wrestled with what binding to use on this quilt, and finally settled on Kona Turquoise (partly because it looked good and partly because I had it!)

This one finished at 45"x45". Oh, and the solids are all Kona cottons- cardinal, royal blue, kiwi, and either tangerine or orange...I have both of those shades of orange and now I can't remember which was which!

Now these last two pictures are courtesy of Spencer. He was laughing at me for the crazy setup I have to do to get halfway decent pictures in our apartment and stole the camera to document my madness.

See, it takes a big mirror, my laptop(very important to the setup!), a lamp, and something to prop the lamp on(in this case, my gypsy gripper). Pretty crazy, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do! And please ignore the disaster area that is my house in the background!

What do you do...

2010-09-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

...when you have 3 quilt tops and backs ready for basting? Start a new quilt, of course! This one is now ready for piecing, but that will have to wait for tomorrow.

And in my defense, I only have enough batting for one of my other quilts, and I spent the last two days at the DMV(oh joy...), so no time to get over to the store. Oh, and I DID get one of the quilts mostly basted on Monday, just to notice that the backing had shifted...Soooo, that is sitting waiting for me to take the pins back out and haul it to my mom's to get taped to the kitchen floor. Someday I will have a floor big enough to baste my quilts at home. I will, I will!!!

Anyways, that's what's going on around here. Oh, and Grandma, I have these sitting at my house now!! Realized after I made the girly one that I don't think you knew about the second one yet...but it's cute, and it will end up somewhere :)

Finished Pink Squares

2010-09-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

I promised to show off something that is actually completed, and I have managed to follow through! You might remember this quilt from my tutorial last month. Well, it's done! My naming skills still need work :)

And guess what? I like it! It is super girly, and bright and happy! I had a beast of a time quilting this little thing though. First, I was going to do a cute free motion flowery pattern, but when I started to try it, I was AWFUL!! So, out came the seam ripper. And then I was going to do my standard all over loopy design; I got a quarter of the way done and looked at the back....the tension was all off! Out came the seam ripper again! At that point, I was so annoyed that I put the quilt to the side for about a week. Then I totally switched gears and straight line quilted it 1/4" away from the block seams and double lines through the center of each block. Success!

Full quilt shot. I added in little scrappy bits occasionally on the blocks. I have been meaning to try this for months, and finally got a chance! Oh, and the block in the bottom right hand corner is my favorite :)

I went with an almost solid orange binding. I really like the way it looks against both the bright pink border (kona bright pink), and the Amy Butler print back.

The back is one solid piece of fabric. Hurray for small quilts!! It was so nice to not have to worry about the backing.

Ok, so it might be just me, but I think it's funny that the backing print is "martini dots", and it's on a baby quilt. Yeah, I'm weird.

I got to use lots of my favorite fabrics in this one, it's cool to see them in the same place. The quilt ended up being 35"x44". It was definitely a nice change to make a small quilt! (I just finished TWO 70"x90" quilts...still haven't taken pictures...)

And it's too bad my pregnant friends are all having BOYS, or this could have gone to one of them! But, since I don't know any brand new baby girls, this pretty little quilt is now in the shop.

Today's Project

2010-09-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is sitting on my table right now. Backing and binding for 3 finished quilt tops. Of course I didn't have any large pieces of suitable fabric for any of them, so they all get to be pieced. But here they are, all cut out and begging to be sewn!

Just have to wait for this one to go to sleep!

I will have some FINISHED stuff to show next week, I promise!

2010-09-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm working on today! I just have to stack up my rows of blocks, and I will be ready to finish this top during naptime! And then if there's time, I might get my quilt along squares sewn together too :)

Sorry for the wonky picture, you know how it is :)

ps- I have a finished quilt to show off as soon as I can get some decent pictures! I'm having issues with lighting...

Block Play

2010-09-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was playing with different layouts for my quilt along blocks:

There are just too many choices!!

^ I don't like this one so much, it's kind of boring.

^ I really like this one, it's one of my top contenders

Spencer said to try to make a zig-zag throughout the entire thing, and I got this. And then I looked at the picture I had just taken and laughed, becuase if you look at it the other way, it looks like this:

The first thing I saw was a saguaro cactus. Then I saw a nifty dagger. Then Spencer, the ASU student that he is, said it was a Sun Devil quilt! Yeah, not using this layout...

And finally, this one. I really like this one too! How will I ever decide between all of these?? Any input?

We have a Winner!

2010-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, the powers that be (as in random.org!) have spoken, and we have a winner! Unfortunately I am not a computer whiz and I have no idea how to capture the image showing the winning number...but, it was #4, which is........

Beth!

Congrats Beth, shoot an email to us and we will arrange delivery of your fat quarters.

On another note, absolutely no sewing has happened in my house this week, as we have been invaded by a stomach bug. Ugh. But mom has been working on a fantabulous quilt that I can't wait for her to show you! It pretty much blows my mind :) So keep an eye out for that!

ps- What with the name drawing and all, "May the odds be ever in your favor!"

I have blocks!

2010-08-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

Naptime was good to me today, I got all of my Charm Pack Quilt Along blocks put together!! Now I get to play with layouts this weekend. Oh the possibilites! Have a wonderful weekend!

Trimming up a storm

2010-08-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

I have progress to show on my Charm Pack Quilt Along blocks! Naptime yesterday started with this:

After naptime, it looked like this, thanks to Zoey:

And this morning I finished trimming!

Today's naptime, 4 square blocks!

Oh, and I'm only using 2 charm packs instead of 3. I decided I don't need a 72"x72" finished size :)

Blogiversary, 100 posts, and a giveaway!!!

2010-08-25T07:00:00.003-07:00

Guess what today is folks? It's our blogiversary! We have been part of this crazy blogging world for a whole entire year! When I think of how much I have been able to create this year, I am blown away, and I am so glad that I got sucked into all of these amazing quilting blogs that continually inspire me!

Oh, and on top of it being our blogiversary, this is our 100th post!!

So, to commemorate this occasion, mom and I have put together a giveaway! We have 7 fat quarters of Nest by Tula Pink to share with one lucky winner! (Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, apparently there were little girl fingerprints on the lens...)

Awesome, right?

So, we are going to go with 3 ways to win our very first giveaway:

1. Leave us a comment on this post

2. Become a follower and comment on this post

3. Blog about our giveaway and come back and comment. Be sure to leave your blog address, 'cause I will go check!

Super sorry to any internationals out there, we are limiting this to continental US only. Shipping is a beast! Maybe next time :)

Be sure to either have your blogger profile connected to your email, or include your email in your comment so I have a way to contact you! If I don't have a way to contact whoever is drawn, I will have to try again, and you will miss out.

I will close the comments and draw a winner on Wednesday, September 1, whenever I get to it that morning :)

(oops! now the date is correct! Thanks Jen N!)

Good luck, and thank you for a wonderful year!

Charm Pack Quilt Along

2010-08-24T07:00:00.001-07:00

I have been eyeing KarrieLyne's Charm Pack quilt along since she started it, but I was a bit busy and hadn't decided if I wanted to join in or not. Well, I bit the bullet! Yesterday I got all of my solid squares cut out and marked for Half Square Triangles. So, I'm weeks behind, but better late than never, right? If you haven't seen anything for this quilt along yet, definitely go check it out!!!

Sorry I don't have any pictures to share, I haven't had a chance to get photographic evidence yet :)

I will get some pictures up once I have more to show!

Square in square tutorial

2010-08-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, Melanie requested a tutorial for the style of block I used in this quilt:

So, I have put one together for whoever is interested!

I start by cutting strips of white in various sizes. Sashing scraps are great!

Gather the fabrics you want to use. This is a good project for string scraps!

I don't really have any plan when I make these blocks, I just choose a fabric from the pile to start with, and then add on other fabrics that go well. Start with a square of fabric. I start with a block cut anywhere from 3" to 4 1/2", and fussy cut fabrics are great!

I like to separate each print or color with a white border. The few blocks I made for the red, pink, and aqua quilt that had prints next to prints were my least favorite, so I didn't make any this time.

I don't precut my strips down to size, either, I just trim the strips down as I sew them on. Oh, and it doesn't really matter what size your second strip is, it can be whatever you want!

So, now choose the next fabric. I went with a solid orange this time. It was from a fat quarter, so I ended up having to cut 2 strips off the fat quarter to go all the way around the block. Once again, it doesn't really matter what the width of the strip is; we will start worrying about that on the next one!

Now we have to start doing some math. Yuck, right? Don't worry, it's not too bad.

I want my blocks to finish at 9" (mostly because I have a 9 1/2" square. Choose whatever size you want, the principles are the same!) I did the math down on the picture, hopefully you can follow it...

This is also when you have to think ahead a little bit. For example, I want the outside of this block to be a color, not white, so I have two more rows to go. I also only need 1 1/4" on each side, and I have to split that between two fabrics.

For this one, I went with a 1/2" FINISHED size strip of white (1" CUT size!)

Now there is only 3/4" left on each side to get me to that 9" finished size. As you can see from my math below, that means I need a strip cut at 1 1/4", so that's what I cut out!

Aaaand, ta da! A cute block that will finish at 9"! (It's 9 1/2" right now though).

This was my first block that then became this:

I decided against sashing for this one, but I still wanted some separation, so I made sure every other block finished with white on the outside. Oh and ps, it's all pinned up and sitting next to the machine now! And I just finished quilting another quilt, so I can start this one during naptime tomorrow!

I never know if things that make sense to me make sense to other people, so if there are any questions on any of my instructions above, just ask! I'm not always know for my clear instructions...