Quick Update

Howdy strangers...feels like it's been a while since I've posted anything! It's been pretty busy around here, we've been cleaning out the house preparing for and having a yard sale, working on some projects around the house and all that fun stuff, but I have managed to squeeze a little sewing in here and there.  I have been a bad little blogger and not taken too many pictures of stuff as it's been in progress, so please forgive me, but here is what I do have to show for myself!!

Firstly, I finished the top to my first baby quilt (ok, I actually finished this about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to sharing it...)

I figured out why I was having trouble with my layout...it's called "Jess can't add", lol. It ended up working out pretty much as I had planned thankfully. Now I've just got to decide how to quilt it...I want to make it fun, but also simple and something that will wind up nice and soft.  I'm thinking making some zig zags in the big strips, and maybe some fun little shapes in the little squares? Hm. We shall see...right now it's sitting patiently all folded up on my sewing table waiting for it's turn to be finished. 

Next I've been working on my Retro Flowers quilt...It's coming along nicely, I am a wee bit behind schedule on the QAL, but I think I'll be able to catch up. I've got 3 blocks done so far, 6 more to go. Then I have to decide on the sashing...

I've also been working on my project for my mini-swap with Rebecca, my Modern She Made swap, and my blocks for this months do.Good Stitches...these three are this week's priorities and will hopefully be if not finished then at least pretty far along by the end of the week.  It's been hard to devote a lot of time to sewing during the week...by the time I get home from work and get everything around the house down, my feet are starting to get pretty swollen and since I've yet to figure out a way to comfortably put my feet up while sewing, I've had to keep my sewing sessions pretty short lately which is REALLY slowing me down! Ugh! 

Anyway, back to work for me while I still have the energy.  Hope you all had a great weekend!!

W.I.P. Wednesday: A Week of Firsts

So this week I've put my daring pants on and have jumped into a few new things:

Firstly, Rebecca at Sew Festive Handmade has been trying to convince me of the fun-ness of swaps...I am a bit hesitant to join one, so I've been picking her brain on these, asking her all kinds of crazy questions to try to make up my mind.  Well, she is super, and not only answered all my questions, but also offered to do a mini swap with just to two of us so I could get a feel for swapping! With a bit of trepidation, I agreed, and made my first inspiration mosaic. I am going to make her a pouch, and she is going to make me a mini. I've already started playing with a few ideas, one is a new-to-me technique and I am really digging it so far but it needs some adjustments before I settle on it. I cannot preview it since I don't want to ruin the surprise for her, but I think it's going to turn out pretty fun!

I was going to see how our mini-swap went before joining a regular swap, but then I saw this: Modern She Made Swap.  I told my self I better not, since I have a few projects on the horizon that I'd actually like to get done, but then decided to just jump in...because by the time I finish all this other stuff, I probably will be about to pop and will not want to join one then.  So now's as good a time as any....right?! I'm still a little nervous, but hopefully it will be fun and I will not totally suck at it. If you are interested, I believe there is still space!

Ok, so on to the actual sewing...I've been talking about my Retro Flowers quilt for a while now (which is my FIRST quilt!), and wouldn't you know it, Bianca at Sweet Diesel Designs and Megan of City Stitches went and decided to start a Quilt-A-Long for Retro Flowers! This was obviously a sign, so I've joined in on that too...my first QAL!! I've gotten started with just my first block this week to see how I could manage the curves.  Turns out, not too shabby!

I did mess this one up a little...apparently I cut wrong when squaring so this did not line up. I do not know why I still pieced the two halves together, because now that's just even more seam ripping for me if I want to fix it...ugh.  Oh well, happy to say the rest went fairly well and I'm ready to move forward with the rest of them. I'm only doing 9 blocks, so hopefully it won't take me too long...

Check this out, I'm even chain piecing the curves like a pro!! Haha

I've also started on my FIRST baby quilt!! I bought a bunch of fabric with no real plan in mind to make just a small quilt that can be used to play with on the floor or cuddle with in the rocking chair...my friend Sarah at Habibti At Home has also just made her baby it's first quilt, and I was really inspired by it and knew I wanted to do something fun and simple like she did.  I almost flat out stole her design, but settled on something a little different.  I've got two layouts I need to choose from:

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Layout A

Layout B

Yeah I know, not much difference...Layout A would have sashing in between each of the 6 inch blocks, while Layout B would have sashing only at the ends of the rows of 6 inch blocks.  I was not planning on any sashing on those rows originally, but due to some measuring errors I'm having to adjust a bit (the long strip of the owls should have been cut to be 42" long, but I cut in the wrong direction and they wound be being about 34"...ugh). I think I'm leaning towards B just to keep it simple...thoughts or other ideas??? Another thought I had was to just add in the 6th 6 inch block on each row as originally planned, and it will just be cut off a bit...hm. 

Anyway, I'm really excited about all these firsts! I'm just hoping I can stick with it all and get everything done. So what have you all got going on this week? Anyone else joining this swap or QAL??

Today I'm linking up with W.I.P Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday..

Something about that new stack of fabric with the prospect of making some new exciting things really gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get some progress made on some other stuff, 'cause these last few days I've been a bit sew crazy, trying to get as much done as possible in the little time I have to work on it...

First up, I started and finished my blocks for this month's do.Good Stitches. This month was led by Jess @ SewCraftyJess, and she chose the Japanese x and + blocks.  I was a bit scared of these at first, but once I looked at the tutorial and started them, they were so stinkin easy!! I can see why these have been really popular...

We had free reign on color, and she said "the more vibrant, the better"...but I think I got a little TOO vibrant on my first one?  I don't know, I'm not really big on scrapiness, so it bothered me not to have any kind of cohesion...it started to grow on me a bit after a while, but I did decide to tone down my second one just a tad. 

Next up is some progress on my Curves projects! I finally got my pot holders and Rainbow Road runner quilted, and I'm just waiting for some more time to bind them.  I also tried out two of the other projects, both of which have been epic failures! One is fixable, I just got super frustrated and didn't want to look at it anymore, the other I totally scrapped...good thing I was using scraps for that one so no tears shed on lost fabric...apparently advanced improv curves are not my friend!

    

  

FINALLY I got to start on my Retro Flowers quilt! I happened to win a set of templates from the lovely Jill @ Made On Mainstreet and they came in today so as soon as I opened the package I ran back to my sewing room and got to cutting!  It was suggested to me that Lou Lou Thi might not have been the best choice to use for this due to the larger prints as they will get a little lost which unfortunately I did not even think about when choosing this, but I decided to try out my first block with one of the larger prints to see how it works...I had to fussy cut alot which stinks, but I think it will work.

I've got some big plans to get started on, but this weekend is my birthday and my parents are coming to town so I will probably not get much done for a few days, BUT I am super excited about what I've got planned!!

Anything exciting going on in your neck of the woods?? I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Busy as a Bee

It's WIP Wednesday and I actually have some stuff to share..WOO! I've been making pretty good progress sewing lately (by my standards, anyway) and even though I've got a small handful of things going on, I feel like I've been in a pretty good groove of making progress on each of them. 

First off, I made my do.Good Stitches February Bee Blocks this weekend. This month was led by the lovely Sarah of Sarah Stitched and she chose the Triangle Play block, found here at Sew, Mama, Sew!  We were given free reign on colors which both excited me and stressed me out a tad, too many decisions! This block looked alot easier going into it...my first block involved LOTS of "reverse sewing" and a few choice words. I just could not get my points to match up or rows to line up straight.

I did finally manage to finish it and it turned out decent, but I ran out of white so couldn't finish my second right away (which honesly was probably for the best at that point...) In the meantime, it was suggested to me to try starching my pieces before sewing them together.  I've never used starch before but was planning on getting some anyway for my curves projects so I decided to give it a go and OH.MY.GOODNESS. Lets just say starch is my new BFF. It made a world of difference! Not only did the second one wind up looking better, but it made it a much more pleasant experience...

Looking at this picture, I just realized that I think because I had to skimp so much with the seem allowance to get my points to line up in the first one, the triangles seem to be a bit bigger than the ones in the second one...huh...well, they are off in the mail already so hopefully it won't be noticeable in the final quilt.

This week I've also gotten some work done on some curves projects:

Rainbow Road table runner: This has been pretty fun to make.  I usually do not do solids, and I usually do not do total improv, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it! Okay okay so it's not really that daring, but it was a stretch for me and I'm glad I did it because what's the point in learning something new if you're not going to step outside your comfort zone?  The directions call for this to be squared off then bound, but I really like the curvy edges, and like I said I'm "throwing caution to the wind" so I'm going to attempt to bind it curvy...

Drunkards Path potholders: These were actually alot easier than I expected.  Rachel gave us directions to try to do these both with pins and without.  The without pins method was kind of blowing my mind so I did the first set with pins but then decided "aw what the heck, let's get crazy" and gave no pinning a go, and what do you know? It was not scarey at all!  I did the rest without which made these really quick to make.

I've also gotten to work on the next bag I had planned. This was supposed to be a Christmas present, which of course didn't happen, so I was going to try to make it for her birthday instead.  Her birthday is the 12th so I *should* make it in time, barring any unforeseen pattern issues/massive mistakes/laziness...yeah, we'll see...Anyway, notice anything about this one?? Yup...I *finally* learned from my mistakes and labeled the pieces! Aw, my mom would be so proud....

In addition to this stuff I've also got a few things sitting on my table waiting for their turn to be cut.. 

-Curves Projects: Orange Peel block, Slices floor mat, O'Christmas Tree mini and Retro Flowers quilt

-Modern Mini Challenge: I'm really hoping to enter this but need to decide quick. I've got a few ideas rattling around, but none have fully hatched yet so I'm not really sure if it'll happen in time.

So, what have you got going on?? How do find a groove to keep multiple things going on at once? Or are you a project monogamist and like to finish one thing before starting another?

W.I.P. Wednesday-Slow and steady...

So it's W.I.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, and as usual, I don't have much to report.  I feel like I have been doing alot, but don't have much to show for it! 

I've mostly been trying to catch up on some Christmas items that never got made and I've tried to keep myself from starting anything else before I get them done (hince the lack of things to show...) I've got one purse I'm working on now, and one to start that will actually wind up being a birthday gift instead. Her birthday is in March, so I should be able to get it done in time.  For some reason, the purse I'm working on now really has me dragging.  It's another Sophia Carry All by Amy Butler (you may recall my previous experience with this bag...) The difficulty I had the last time is probably what's keeping me from getting into this one, but I'd already cut out the pieces and hate to waste it so I'm forging ahead.  There are 2 things that I've learned while making this pattern that I wish I had remembered this time around....
1) Label the darn pieces.  There are ALOT of pieces to this one, and last time I used the wrong piece to make the handles and had to do alot of seam ripping.  Of course I didn't learn from my mistakes and didn't label them this time and as I was applying the interfacing I realized I may have cut something wrong, so now I've got to re-trace my steps and see what I've got...maybe now I should label them to save my self any more heartache? yeah...we'll see about that...
 2) Don't bother with fusible fleece, it's a pain in the butt.  I've been using Pellon brand, and man it is hard to get it to actually fuse.  I've used the non-fusible kind before and just used a spray addhisive to apply it and it was fine, so I'm totally doing that from now on. Not only is the non-fusible kind a little cheaper, it also would save alot of time to spray baste than try to fuse the darn stuff...

Another WIP that has been keeping me occupied:

Yeah so it's not sewing related..but it is DIY! We've been redoing our guest bathroom, and I suppose you could say this is my longest running WIP right now.  We actually bought all the the stuff to do it back in the beginning of September, I started then by ripping down the wallpaper border with the intent to start painting, but then life got in the way and everything sat around in the garage until about 3 weeks ago when we finally decided to go ahead and get it done.  We are not redoing the tub or shower tile as it was in pretty good shape, but we have done all the painting and tiled the floor.  These are terrible pictures, but the second one shows the color a bit more accurately.  This grey was actually the 4th color I tried, I'd originally picked out a purple back in September but when I busted it out to start painting a few weeks ago I H-A-T-E-D it.  So then I decided I wanted turquoise and tried two different shades, both I liked but just wasn't sold on either of them.  Finally I gave in and decided to go with something slightly more neutral and got this grey that has just a hint of blue to it.  I never thought I'd be a grey person, but it just looks so fresh and clean with the bright white ceiling and light colored tile...perfection! This weekend hopefully we'll get the baseboards back on and install the vanity and put the toilet back.  We have been mostly confined to working on it on the weekends, so it's been taking a while to get it all done and man am I ready to get everything back in order!

I did manage to finish some stuff in the last few weeks, but of course I was in too big of a hurry to get it sent out that I forgot to take pictures.  I made little blankets for my two nephews and my sister-in-law says they love them! They were very simple, I just got some Cars fleece (they are big fans of the movie) and coordinating flannel for the other side. I applique'd their initial on one side and made it as kind of a "Self-binding" blanket, with just straight line stitching to give it some detail.  I actually wound up making three of these because the first one I made I attached the fleece backwards and it wasn't until I was completely finished with it when I noticed the print was inversed...oops!  (This was  one of the times that I've enjoyed being able to blame "baby brain" rather than "Jess makes silly mistakes")

That's about all I've got to share...I have this giant stack of brand stinkin new fabric that I washed and folded last night that I just can't wait to use! Curves class (held by Rachel at Stitched in Color) starts this week and I've been holding out on cutting into any of these yummies so I can use them for the class, so hopefully I'll have something fun to share in the next week or two!  Also on deck is some experimenting with paper-piecing and attempting to refashion some clothes into maternity clothes.  I bought some t-shirts at Joanns the other day ($3 each, can't beat that) with the intent to add some rouching to the sides, and to cut one up to make some rolled flowers or perhaps a ruffled neck line to fancy it up.  I've never done any kind of clothing before, so we'll see how this goes!  If anyone has any tips on rouching, I'd love to hear it! I've browsed a few tutorials but right now I'm probably going to just wing it...

So, what have you been up to? Be sure to hop over to Freshly Pieced to link up and see what other's have been doing!

Spoiler Alert! Christmas gifts in progress!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can acknowledge that Christmas is coming! (Read: I have realized that I have waited too long to start making Christmas gifts / decorations and now will be in a sewing craze for the next 24 days...) But, that means I have lots of Works In Progress to share for my first link of with WIP-Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced! Fair warning though, the picture quality may not be the highest on these, my hubby has apparently high-jacked my memory card and so I had to use an iPhone to take these!

Welcome to my bag factory Santa's Workshop!

 

please don't judge me for my mess...

just realized how weird it probably looks to have a sharpening stone and "real" tape measurer on my cutting table...they are used for fabric weights (yes I'm in desperate need of some sewing notions...)

It's a complete disaster, which is usually how I roll, but this is getting a little out of hand...In fact, the only thing stopping me from cutting into more projects is the fact that I do not have anymore room to do so until I clear some stuff out. So, right now I have one project "in the machine", one "on the cutting table", a few in the "cutting queue", and of course a few in the "planning stage".  All but one of these are Christmas gifts, and most of the ladies on my list are getting purses. I had so much fun picking out fabric for each of them, trying to find just the right print for their style. Hopefully I got it right! (And also hopefully none of them are reading this blog....)

In the machine: Amy Butler bag for my BFF.  She looked through my Amy Butler book a few months ago and really liked this, I was nervous to try to make it as its rated a little harder, but I think I can manage.


On the Cutting Table: Two more Amy Butler Bags for my hubby's Mom and Gramma. They have a little bit more traditional tastes, so I tried to keep the fabric a little toned down....

In the Cutting Queue: Another Amy Butler bag...have I mentioned I love Amy Butler patterns? I've not used too many other patterns that turn out as good as hers do, so when I came across these on sale at my LQS I had to get them.

In the Planning Stages: I just ordered some fabric to make quick blankets for my newphews, they love the movie cars, so I got some Cars fleece and some solid flannel and I'll do a simple straight line quilting on them and use felt to put their names on them. Also, I'm really hoping to make this Nativity wall hanging quilt.  I actually bought this magazine solely for this pattern about 2 months ago. I'm not sure I'll get to it in time for Christmas, but I plan to still make it so it'll be ready for next year!

Finishes: I do actually have one finish for this week, and you guessed it, it's another Amy Butler bag. This one went together pretty quickly and I think it is just perfect for the friend I made it for (though the photo does not do it justice...)

Between all of these bags and things I also still need to get my tree up and decorate! So much to do, so little time...wish me luck!

No more crafting until you finish your...crafts?

WWMy craft room basically looks like a tornado blew through...Projects tossed on every visible surface, scraps strewn about...its a disaster! Because of this, I am grounding myself...no more starting new projects, no more trips to the fabric store to oodle new fabrics, no more conjuring up new ideas, until THESE projects are done and I can safely maneuver around my sewing table again. Here are my goals for the weekend:

1) Finish the fall table runner

I didn't get to finish it in time for entry into last month's Celebrate Color (see last post), so it's going to have to be entered next month instead, but I would still like to get it done SOON so I can actually put it out and enjoy it this year.  I've made alot of progress since the last time I showed a picture of it; everything is all pieced, squared off and I ironed on some lining to give it a little structure, all that's left is to bind and top stitch.

2) Finish that darn wreath.

Yes, it is still perched in front of my fire place, which admittedly I do enjoy, but it's supposed to go on the door! I need to find a way to stabilize it (I used pipe insulation as the core, and the flowers are weighing it down when I try to hang it, so it turns out kind of oblong...) I have a few thoughts, it's just a matter of DOING IT!

3) Finish this purse

Ok, so I haven't mentioned this one yet. I started it probably around a month ago and then got so excited about fall projects that I put it aside. But its so cute! And all needs to be done is sew the lining and outer bag together and top stitch. Should be done in a snap.

4) Complete up to at least week 3 of the Advent Calendar

I'm pretty far behind in this (in fact, I'm not even posting a picture of it because it hasn't changed since the last one I took) so I'm not expecting to totally finish, but I'd like to make a litle progress on this.

I think these are pretty reasonable goals for the next few days...right?? As motivation, I've laid out this little number here:

This is part of the super fun fall decor project I mentioned before and I'm so excited to start.  Hopefully, not being able to start it 'til I'm finished with my other stuff will be motivation enough to get it all done. And if that doesn't get me goin, there's a sale at the local fabric shop that I always find GREAT stuff at, which, due to my aforementioned rules, I cannot go to if I don't get this stuff done...if that's not motivation, I don't know what is!