More blocks

I have to be honest. This is Spring Break for me, which usually means me getting in 40 plus hours of sewing in and going back to work dressed in my new sweet garments. Well, it hasn't happened this year. I still have the darn boot on which is such a hindrance. I can't put any weight on my foot so every darn step is a challenge besides actually sitting and sewing. It's amazing how little projects require that. I have been working hard, but not getting much done and am frustrated!

I did get some catching up on my (free!) Craftsy Block of the Month class though. Behold: February...

Yes, they were blue and white solids, but after seeing so many cool finished ones on Craftsy I wanted to change it up. Mr. Thinks He Can took me to Joann's and I told him pick five fat quarters for me to work with. He chose blacks and grays. I have some black and gray scraps as well, and I admit the blocks are looking great! I really liked the method for the one above. each square edge is cut on the bias which made lining them up pretty convenient.

I also recreated my January blocks to match the new color scheme:

 

I'm liking the look. It is kind of rock and roll, and way more manly.

By the way I did not win the Red Dress Contest, but an amazing dress did. It was a fun experience to enter. Thank you for all your votes!

A very self centered post

I never realized how much I enjoy my mobility. I don't watch mindless television and movies without having some other project going on. What follows is my descent into madness following the week after my foot surgery.

Day 1-2: "My assistant is so cute. I totally have to keep this quilt because of how well it fits us both."

Day 2-4: "I am a horrible dog owner," thoughts with intermittent, "I am so bored and nobody likes me," thoughts.

Day 5-7: "I have to get out of here! Where is my husband? Why have I been cooped up here so long? I entered the Red Dress contest at patternreview.com and I'll be damned if I'm not going to finish that dress. Oh, AND my shirt a month project. OMG....I can't reach the remote and I can't watch this anymore! Make it all stop!"

Now: Some house destruction but I am able to move and not elevate my foot constantly. The stitches come out on Tuesday and I should be able to take care of myself then. It is so hard being at everyone elses' mercy. Thank you all for your blogs because they were my lifeblood this week. Also, thank you for the kind words and advice on taking it easy. Taking it easy almost killed me, but I bet it will pay off in the end.

And I did get a small bit done on both a shirt fix that will have to count and that red dress. You'll see them soon as I have a deadline!

Oh yeah, and my assistant and I voted we do keep the quilt. :-)

Pattern Organization and Fabric check

I was looking for a pattern I bought on sale. I knew I bought the pattern- where the heck? All the patterns in the file cabinet drawer were dumped on the floor to be sorted through. Not there. Wait, what's that... I stretched my arm back through the back of the drawer and felt paper. I gave a pull and unearthed an addiction.

Found it. But they were all on sale! See, I've used a lot of them... Ok I have enough to justify organizing them.

I used the drawer again, but this time used folders marked:

Dresses
Shirts
Skirts
Pants
Sportswear Collections
Knits Only
Random (seasonal, slippers, etc.)
Vintage
Bags

Believe it or not, that is better.

Having seen all the patterns, I decided to pull out my fabrics and try to match them up.

It all fits in that tub, so it isn't too bad.

This is a pretty clearance rayon that I think would make a pretty shirt dress (but kind of suspect that it will look kind of 90s and must be sported with combat boots). There are three yards of it, so if you have any ideas for it, please let me know.

A planned Texas themed quilt. I intend to do it later in the Spring. We are a proud people here in Texas.

Baby shower gifts.

Dear Stacie,


Why would you give a dead cow and chili pepper themed gift to a baby?


Concerned Reader

Dear Concerned Reader,

This is a joke fabric. The couple doesn't know the sex of the baby, but I know dad has a love for Southwest inspired decor which drives his wife crazy. I think this will be a lesson to everyone to tell me the sex of your baby or you will get scary baby shower gifts. Yes, I will probably make it a more appropriately chosen present after it is born. Until then I am sending a powerful message.

Stacie

Scraps big enough to make tote bags from.

Fusible, interfacing and muslin, oh my!

Skirts. Has to be right? They are my summer uniform, and I love bright colored skirts.

Seasonals: Christmas and Halloween to be exact. Check ya next year!

I have about three yards of this lace which is so pretty and drapes nicely- except for the color. I think I may dye it a prettier blue to make a summer dress out of.

I may make a Violet out of this material. I have held off because it is so slippery and cheap feeling. I may want to make one out of a cotton first to see how it goes. Maybe it would make another good attempt at a Taffy...

This is a weird tube of scratchy knit I acquired randomly. I may try to make another cardigan like my Polka Dot one. I don't know what else I would do with it...

This is an awesome print given to me by Holly for Christmas. I used some of it to make a tote bag, and I'm hoping to either make a sorbetto or a skirt out of the rest of it. Hopefully there is enough for the sorbetto because I just don't wear too much white on bottom. Super cute!

That's it! I am trying to inventory what I have with what I need because I have surgery on my foot scheduled for Friday, and I won't be able to walk for six weeks! I will have a knee scooter, but good luck getting one of those through Joann's. I have been practicing left footed sewing, so hopefully I can get a few garments done.

My best quilt ever!

I know, I say it every dang time, but I totally mean it! It's my best quilt ever!

It is just so darn happy looking!

Here is how I handled my cheap flannel backing that was only 44" wide. I made a thin stripe of the flower  fabrics down the back. I really like how it turned out.

For the binding I chose to use the scraps of flower fabrics. I mimicked the pattern on the inner border. I also used the same pattern on the back. Probably no one would ever notice that but us.

Here is an up close of a flower. I wound up quilting it by stitching in the ditch, but I also did a diagonal criss cross across the flower bits. I just wanted to make sure it was all secure.

I washed the quilt once so far to help the flower edges rag out a bit. I don't know about you, but people always say washing the quilt will make it crinkly and awesome. I admit, I have never washed a quilt for fear the washer will destroy it. Next time you finish a quilt and you two are cuddling on the couch and thinking about washing and drying it, but also thinking, "But me and new quilt are in LOVE and want to watch Glee and cuddle." Get yourself together and wash the quilt. It is amazing how much softer and cuter it got. The quilt is actually in the washer right now while I try to get the flower edges to fray more.

Finally, I love it. The French Roses pattern was deceptively easy. As for my friend, wait what friend? The nice thing about it being a surprise is that now that quilt and me and in love I might just keep her. Mr. Thinks He Can thinks I should hang it on my sewing room wall or sell it on Etsy for $500. Hehe, I like the confidence in my skills, but it is far from perfect. Any other ideas for what to do with a quilt?

I also entered this quilt on Craftsy's Project Cupid. If you like it, please go 'heart' the quilt.

French Roses quilt top completed

I am so pleased with how it turned out!

There is a weird mirror reflection on it, but it has turned out so darn cute. If you are interested in taking up quilting, this pattern is pretty foolproof. There is nothing exact about it other than cutting a few straight lines.

Here is a close up of my borders. The inner border is just my five flower fabrics in a repeating pattern. The pattern includes an ingenious way pf making them so it is quick and painless. The outer border  is just a long strip. All of my white fabric (and peony muslin) came from a really nice quality white sheet I thrifted. It has really held up well and has a nice weight to it.

It is winter in the quilt's new home, so I chose a flannel to back it. I plan on piecing the green flannel with a few scraps from the flower fabrics. I think I will bind it using the two red fabrics I have stacked on top there.

Isn't the green perfect and springy? It matched perfectly and was on sale for $2.50 a yard at Joann's. I love it! I am hoping to have it sandwiched this weekend, and maybe quilted. I plan to stitch in the ditch for quilting as the flowers will fray up when they are washed. I don't want to inhibit that by stitching over them. 

Basic T-shirt

I joined the Shirt A Month (SAM) group per Doobee, then realized I need to make a shirt now because I have three days left this month, and they are almost totally filled. I had New Look 6838 in my stash and a cut of camouflage knit I found on clearance at Joann's, so I thought 'what the heck.'

I really like this shirt! I made the whole thing in about an hour. I followed the measurements in the pattern and made an XL. I wound up taking it in an inch on both sides and the center back as well as the sleeves. Also, those sleeves are supposed to be 3/4 length. It was a bit huge. Now, take in consideration I don't work with knits a lot even though I would like to. I used my serger for everything except the neck and sleeve hems. I didn't hem the bottom. I'm tricky like that.

Here is my center back. It is wrinkly because I am holding up my hair. I almost cut it on the fold, but I had to take it in so much everywhere I am glad I didn't.

Here is a goofy picture of my neckline I used a very thin zig zag stitch. I didn't think Mr. Thinks He Can was shooting my face, so I am looking goofy. The neck was huge as well, but when I took in the center back that helped the neckline as well.

Overall it is a comfortable shirt. I always wear long sleeve T-shirts and I am proud to have made my first one. Next time I make it, I think I will go with a medium. I think I will even wear this one to work tomorrow.

Look at me, shirt a month challenge for January is in the bag! The quilt is looking awesome too. What a great weekend!

French Roses quilt update

I have discovered something about quilting. It doesn't make for fascinating blogging. It takes a while and in this case I am making the same thing 25 times before I move on to step two. Each of the 25 things takes about 10 minutes. In other words is a bit of a slow go. Here is my update though.

Here is how my flowers are shaping up. I have 15 (the ones on the left) fully together and the blocks all connected. I have a few spares that are put together. This quilt does feature an interesting way of putting the flowers together.

Here is a close up of one quilt block.  Remember, around the edges the fabric will fray, so the thread will be less obvious. It features two leaves and four flowers layers. You put the leaves on first and then the first layer. Then you cut the inside out. You can see what I am taking about on the back.

That way the most layers you are sewing in is two. That is much easier than sewing through five layers. I hope to have this top done by next weekend.

I am also joining a shirt a month challenge that Doobee brought to my attention. I need to get on that! I may do a Clover shirt or an old stand by since the quilt is taking up my time right now.

The start of a new quilt

I did it. I started a new quilt. This one is for a friend as a surprise that is really into shabby chic decor. I saw a version Little Miss Shabby did, and I knew I needed to make one.

This quilt is called French roses. I bought it off Etsy and had the pattern within three days. Love it! I have also been eyeing the Moda Bonnie and Camille Ruby line of fabric. I figured this was a match made in heaven.  I wound up mixing some Ruby with the past line called Bliss. My biggest concern is that it would look too juvenile.

I was concerned about cutting all the flower pieces, but it wasn't bad at all. I traced the outlines on my lightest fabric using my Frixion pen and then pinned it to the other four fabrics and cut them all out at once. It took about 45 minutes for the whole process. Why pin it?

My assistant likes to keep my fabrics warm whenever they are on the floor. This keeps me sane when she bunches up my projects. If you look closely you can see my pen markings.

Here is a sneak peek at how it should shape up. I haven't sewn anything yet, but I wanted to get a visual on how it would look. This quilt uses an applique technique that will allow the 1/4" seam allowance around each level of flower to fray. That will help set apart the colors some I think.

Here is a close up of one of the flowers. I am trying to think of binding. I want to see it all together, but I may use the aqua color that is used in some of the prints. That may help the kiddie-looking quilt situation. What do you think? Is it shabby chic?

Kitchen mat tutorial

I made a quilt that I just lost the love for. It was too bright and crazy to be a quilt. It sat as blocks for months until I had a sewing date with my friend Holly Saturday. She said to make it a kitchen or bathroom mat. Thanks, genius!

I googled 'kitchen mat tutorial' and came up with my own method based on what I found.

1. Place your fabric or top layer right sides together with an old beach towel. Wait, why a towel? I spill stuff sometimes and wipe it up with my rug. You know you do it too. It's about absorbency.

2. Sew around the edges, I went with a 3/4" seam allowance because my two fabrics didn't match up perfectly. Leave about a 6' opening to turn it right sides out.

3. Turn it right side out and iron it the way you would like it to lay. I also trimmed the corners because they got pretty thick. I then top stitched about an inch in which helped secure the 6" opening as well as making the fabric lay properly and not shift..

Before

After

I had a white clearance rug in there and it was filthy. My new one should hide dirt, absorb liquids and is totally washable. Love it! It's not perfect, but it was made to be spilled on. I may use my scraps and left over blocks to do some matching hand towels and pot holders.

Check out my new sewing table. It doesn't bounce like my plastic one, and it was cheap on Craig's list!

That crazy squirrel quilt

It is finally finished and I love it!

I was torn on how to bind it, but I decided to just double fold the backing over and machine stitch it to the front. It doesn't look as nice as a hand stitched binding, but I won't worry about the pup catching her collar in the hand stitching.

Here is a close up of the binding. No, it's not perfect, which drives me nuts. It is more functional and sturdy this way I think.

Here is a picture of the back all quilted. You can see I machine quilted and went with a geometric pattern. Aren't the bones awesome?

I outlined here the quilting I did. I combined a cross hatch pattern with stitching in the ditch. I expect to wash this one a lot, so I wanted it to hold up.

Here is how each square wound up being stitched as well as the outline.

I used the same method over the squirrels. I had to think about it, because I didn't want it to look bad, but you can hardly see it. Again, I wanted it to hold up well.

The biggest challenge this quilt presented was any time any part of it touched the floor or I laid it out to take a look at it, my boss here hopped on top and tried to nap. I guess that means she likes it.

As I mentioned on an earlier post this was inspired by the Simply Spring quilt in the book Simple Choices by Abbey Lane. I am really a beginner, and this quilt was easy all the way through. Highly Recommended!

One last piece! Check out my January Block of the Month Craftsy blocks! I went with the blue and white theme and am very pleased with how they turned out. There is still time to sign up for this free course!

OK that is the last on quilting for a while. I know you guys are hungry for garments. I am too!