And I’m back for 2014!

My plan for 2013 was to take a break from bees to finish quilts that I’ve started but that didn’t happen. My quilts are all in various stages of completion still. I didn’t really sew anything in 2013 once my baby arrived. That is, I didn’t really sew anything until November when I started making these cute little 9-patch blankets for my friend to use with her photography business.

My banner helpers enjoyed this shot.

I ended up making 14 of these little guys. I really enjoyed it, and wanted to make more, but ran out of time. That is, I have time but now that I have 3 kids it is spread out a little thinner than it has been in the past.

More newborn blankets.

I tried taking some pictures of these blankets, but the settings in my camera were a bit off, and I couldn’t figure out how to adjust them.

The orange squares are all the same tone, actually.

In this blanket, the yellow polka dots are all the same fabric. But in the photo it looks like sunshine yellow & squash orange. So strange.
I think this little red, gray, and white gem is one of my favorites.

“Look Mom! I’m a robot! See my robot body??”

Here is a composite shot of the first 6 blankets I made, side to side. I think it would be a pretty cute blanket for someone’s toddler bed:
One of the most fun parts of this project was picking out fun bright chevron & dots & solid fabric colors that I might not ordinarily buy for myself. There really is something about fresh uncut fabric all ready to go that is just so rejuvenating.

Baby Gift

One of my friends is having a baby girl, due about a month after mine. Her baby shower was this past weekend, so I made her a baby blanket & teddy bear to match.

I sewed around the edge twice to add a little more of a finish to the edge than a simple turnover would give it.

To be clear, all I did with the bear was sew on buttons & the bow, but I chose colors to match the strawberry blanket. I think this duo turned out quite cute!

Burp Cloths!

This past week I finally found the time to “prettify” some burp cloths. My boys’ burp cloths are half worn out, and I made them from patterned flannel that really scream BOY so it was fun to buy some white burp cloths & scavenge through my ribbon basket to find some feminine samples to adorn them.
Random fact: it is almost impossible to find white burp cloths where I live. I think I went to four different stores, including Target and Walmart, none of which sold these nice, white, traditional burp cloths. What is wrong with them? I ended up ordering these from Amazon. Regardless of the hassle they were to procure, I’m happy with the end result.

Some Recent Projects

I just finished a baby blanket I’ve been working on for over a month. Here is a peek at the back:
Basically you sew diagonal lines through 4 yards of flannel. Then, you cut through 3 of the layers, leaving 1 layer to hold it all together! When you wash it, the cut flannel gets all wriggly and curvy and its very fun for babies to stroke and snuggle with. 🙂 Maybe I’ll post a tutorial on how to do it if I make another one before my little girl makes her debut in this world. Here is a snapshot of the front flipped onto the back.

I also went to a baby shower for a friend, and sewed a purple baby blanket for her. I actually have several purple flannels with cute prints, but I’m hesitant to use them for myself because I’ve never been a huge fan of purple. That is to say, I like it on other people & in other people’s homes, but I just can’t envision myself or my personal projects as being purple-heavy.

I also whipped up this little number…just a single layer of flannel with the edges turned over twice. Its hard to tell in this photo, but its fuchsia on cream. I think its darling. After the previous paragraph, do I need to state that this doesn’t really count as purple in my book because the fuchsia contains a lot of red/pink? I remember using a lot of single-layer blankets for my boys when they were under 6 months, so now I’m trying to decide which of my flannel patterns to use to make 2 or 3 more.

The women’s organization at my church is holding a charity auction tonight. If you wanted to donate you could either make something to donate, or donate an actual service (like babysitting for someone else, or cooking lessons, etc) I made this cute star using a liberated quilting technique.
Then I turned it into a pillow. I stuffed it pretty well, its quite firm. I think that if no one wants it then its no loss because it will match the pink & aqua quilt I’m working on. Who knows, maybe I’ll make myself a matching pillow anyway! I used the light aqua color as a seam border, and the dark teal on the back. I think it turned out quite cute!

Last but not least I am also, slowly, getting my jar quilt put together. Here is the layout I decided on:
Now I have a stack of jars on my ironing board, waiting to be ironed so I can lay them out again & sew the next connecting seam on my rows. My goal in January was to get as many partially finished quilts finished this year (and hopefully before the baby comes) as possible. As this post probably demonstrates, I’ve had a lot of distracting sewing projects happening! But I think I’m finally getting to a place mentally where I ought to be able to finish my Fruit Salad quilt, and hopefully this jars quilt, in March. I also feel guilty about not plugging away at the sampler quilt I started (see some blocks here and here…back when I first started posting them on Y Seams) so I suppose its a good thing that I dropped out of most of the bees, swaps, and flickr exchange groups I did last year!

Covert Robin Gift Revealed

Well, here it is:

My recipient was Tabitha of Momtastic Stitchery. I knew when I saw who I was giving to that I would need to do something with a little hand sewing on it. There are approximately 70 french knots in that M!

I took the following photo intending to post it a week or so ago, but then decided not to since it shows the front of the pouch and someone could potentially guess what it would be. Maybe I was being paranoid though because now I’m wondering how on earth someone would guess that this would be a pouch front?

The lettering is a bit of a pun on Momtastic Stitchery. Why write the word ‘stitchery’ when its written in stitches?? Another post to come on how I made the hand scrub.

My Covert Robin package is sent!

Behold my Covert Robin gift:
I’m only showing the back of the zippered pouch here, because the front gives away who the recipient is. I love the inside fabric, I think it ties it all together & adds some whimsical flair.
I did minimalist quilting on the pouch itself. There are 3 lines on the front & 3 on the back.

More pics to come after this wends its way to its recipient!

Covert Robins Working Hard!

I’ve been working hard on a few little projects for the Covert Robin, a fun little “secret santa” type swap among bloggers.
More posts to follow regarding this fun little exchange!

Fabric Mart

I just got back from a vacation with my family in Maui. While I was there, I had to check out Fabric Mart. I walked in, and just gaped. I haven’t seen this much fabric in one store since going to House of Fabrics with my mom in Arizona when I was a little girl. And the prices are pretty decent too! A lot of fabrics were $2.99 or $3.99/yard, which in my neck of the woods are usually only seen on semi-annual sales.
I went back to the car & grabbed my camera because I wanted to put some pictures on here. This shop puts my local Joann’s to shame. The fabric from one aisle here at Fabric Mart would constitute the entire fabric selection at my Joann’s.
This picture is of some beautiful hawaiian prints my son admired.
And this here is my find of the day, some beautiful indigo fabric of silhouette children playing outside. Its actually fabric from Korea.

Above My Sewing Table

Many moons ago I showed what is under my sewing table. My plan was for my next post to be above the table. Life happened & here we are. So without further adieu I give you:

I love this little nook. I call it a nook, in reality its a corner of my bedroom. The calendar is a Arizona Highways calendar, which is where I grew up. The b&w canvas shows the first time my eldest son held his little brother, fresh from the hospital.
The r&w hearts, and kirigami were sent by my Grandma for Valentine’s Day over the past few years. I also have 2 postcards showing different quilts from the 2011 Symphony of Color quilt festival in San Francisco (didn’t go, but I like the quilts on the cards!). True confession: the red pieced block is not a retro swimsuit or back view of a spartan’s cape. Its my pathetic attempt at sewing this tutorial, and I keep it there to remind me about the virtue of calculating seam allowances! A motivational day-by-day quote calendar, a rose given me by a sweet patient, & some furniture sketches make up the rest of what I have pinned above my machine.

My cutting table is to the right. Its just a typical rectangle table from Costco. I have the left side dedicated to the obligatory entropy that goes along with creativity & fabrics. Quilt books, pins, bucket of pens/scissors/etc. If the rotary cutters go into it, the bucket tips over. And so they are relegated to the plain tabletop. I love my yellow cutting board on the right. I bought it on Black Friday a few months ago on sale with a coupon for additional 25% off…what a steal! I keep my small omnigrids on it when not in use, but the larger omnigrids go under my bed, since I don’t trust little hands to not crack them accidentally.

Overall, my sewing space may not be too fancy but for me it embodies the perfect mix of functionality with inspiration.

Under the Sewing Table

Here is a glimpse of my sewing corner, or should I say the ground in my sewing corner?. I like keeping my jars of thread, buttons, and notions handy so that I can reach what I need while sitting down. Does this make me lazy? Nah, it makes me EFFICIENT! Yes, exactly that.
Oh, and I think the space between the table legs and the wall is the perfect width for my mini-ironing board, and a couple canvases waiting to be hung :). The basket used to be solely for cross-stitch, but over the years it’s accumulated some yarn balls, and quilt blocks still waiting for more friends. I love this little niche because it inspires me to sit down & sew, while still leaving room for the vacuum so it stays relatively clean between projects!