Sewing and general crafting updates

I am admittedly having a difficult time fitting blogging into my life right now! The first reason is we have no internet in our new place- I just use my husband's phone to get online. So that means I can only be on the net when he is home and we are not busy eating, playing, cooking, cleaning, relaxing together or doing a multitude of other non-internet things. The second is, I have been busy doing crafty things for Halloween! First up, a bluebird costume for my little man (he's almost two!):

(my chair doing my modeling here) 

 (closeup of the wing)
This was really fun, it all came together in a day (luckily a very sleepy day for my son) and he wore it yesterday for a zoo Halloween scavenger hunt. The wings need to be adjusted to stay on better, but he loved to wear the hat. I used this Martha Stewart baby pattern as inspiration, but drew my own wings and followed the instructions very minimally.

The next project was a first trip to the pumpkin patch, and then carving pumpkins. I went for the bird theme whole hog this year and chose to do an owl.

I used a Dremmel tool specifically made for carving pumpkins, which I highly recommend! It was a blast and so easy, but I did get little bits of pumpkin all over my arms. Shower after the carving, not before.

And the third reason for my lack of blogging? I want to use all my free time to see how this Little Apples string block quilt is going to turn out! I get about 2-3 blocks done a day, but I am getting anxious!

I've got a nice pile going, but I have a lot of my jelly roll left! I can't wait to start laying it out.

Best of luck to all for the coming week, getting through a sugar-fueled late-night holiday and getting some sewing/crafting/work/relaxing done!

Been a long time...updates from a rainy city

Hello to my readers! I have moved to my new city of Portland, Oregon and am somewhat settled in, enough to be sewing once again and trying to get back into my groove. Most of my time up to this point has been focused on moving in to our new house and playing with my son. His sleeping times have been occupied by unpacking and organizing, cleaning and relaxing with my husband. And looking for a nice modern not-too-expensive couch (no luck on the last front). 

 This is my color-organized bookshelf- can you tell I missed my sewing/quilting?

 Our new front door

 My new sewing area- smaller, but hoping this smaller footprint will make me more organized!

 My Little Apples jelly roll all cut up and ready to use to make some string blocks (I am using the instructions from The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartmann, a fellow Portlander)

 These are the selvedges- don't they look interesting in this little bunch?

 This is an Heirloom bundle I won from Angie at Stitching by Starlight, from her 10 for 10 interviews, which if you missed are still on her blog. My first fabric winnings at my new house!

This I received before I left Cali but forgot to mention it here in the madness- this is a Storyboek fat quarter bundle from Birch fabrics, which I received from the Green Bag Lady. These are beautiful and soft- now I just need a plan for them!

More to come soon, but for now, I need to get back to stitching my Little Apples!

Finished- 100 Quilts for Kids

So I said my last post would be the only one for a while, but I have to post my quilts for 100 Quilts for Kids because I finished the second one just in time to start packing (and link up!). So here it is:

Love the variegated blue thread on the purple binding

My two quilts to donate- now going to two kids who need them! One of these is for you, Diane! 

I will be taking these to Doernbecher Children's Hospital to donate to the chemo ward. We had a close friend whose son was treated there and I would love to give some handmade comfort to those brave kids during their often lengthy treatments.

A WIP Wed post for my peace of mind

Had to post my WIP Wednesday, I guess it is now ingrained in me. So I will make this one different too. I feel the need to post it since it will likely be my last post for a month or so. I will not be doing much sewing to report on, because I will need to be packing- just found out I will be moving to the Portland area in two weeks. So here goes my progress before I have to pack up my sewing room!

My banners/bunting are finished! One for each of two boys, and finished up and ready to go to their new home. This was a fun and relatively easy one!

Now, finally got to piecing this quilt top, using my blue colorway of Parisville. I ended up making two (relatively) square quilts so that they could both be donated. Then I found out I was going to need to spend all my time packing. So now I am in finish-it-up-NOW mode. Thus, trying to get these quilted and done by Friday. At least I made progress...

Pinned and the machine is set up to quilt this one at naptime today. If I only finish one, just one more going to 100 Quilts for Kids, so here's to being really good and finishing both!

It'll be a while, so I'll see you all on the flip side (of October).

WIP Wednesday- where not a lot got done

Okay, some things got done, but mostly these involved caring for a sick son and trying to take care of a house in the process. And the sick son is a toddler, not eating anything and not sleeping. This last you realize does cut into my sewing time. There's a reason this blog is titled the way it is. So I'll be less wordy this time.



Completed:

My quilt to donate for 100 quilts for kids, as seen yesterday. It is now washed, but I doubt that justifies many more pictures.








Making a new list for my to-do for this page. Last week I winged it, but now I want to actually use it to keep myself accountable. Yay.


New:

Banner (bunting?) for my friends' kids, to decorate their new room. I am using blues for background and red for the letters. They have now been cut out, ready to sew- maybe tonight?






Ongoing:
Cutting out patterns and fabrics for my Amy Butler patterns using my Harmony Arts fabrics. This is where I need some advice.

For the Domestic Goddess Apron: This fabric combo...is too busy? Or is it okay? I wanted to make a kinda crazy mix here for my sister, so the flowery fabric would make up the bulk and the blue and brown Harmony Arts the accents. Thoughts?

The next project from the AB patterns is the Birdie Sling. I am using the center Harmony Arts fabric for the main part of the bag and trying to decide on my accent fabric. The batik on the left? The flowery Kona Bay on the right?

Or the green?













No progress:

• DNA quilt (design and cutting step 1)
• Echino Squared-inspired Parisville quilt top (arranging blocks)
• Kaleidoscope quilt with the pomegranate Parisville
• Other quilt to donate to 100 Quilts for Kids- perhaps a ticker tape or other QAL quilt?
• Knitting a doll/softie for Christmas gift for my niece

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1
New projects - 1
Currently in progress - 7

Brown and yellow fall quilt for 100 Quilts for Kids- completion!

I love saying this- done! I am done with my quilt for the 100 Quilts for Kids drive. Well, the first one at least. Now the race is on to finish at least one more. Maybe I will also donate my Parisville quilt, or my Kona poseidon quilt. I doubt I need them as much as they will be enjoyed by someone who receives them through the drive.

Here's a closeup so you can see the quilting. I loved the quilting for the original quilt from Made by Rae, so I stuck with that, nice parallel lines in yellow variegated thread to set off the brown. Okay, close to parallel. I am trying to buck this perfectionist thing in my quilting.

This is the back, made of extra smaller charm squares, a big piece of brown fabric and some white printed with cute little bunnies in brown.

These are the cute little bunnies! And some view of what the quilting looks like on the backside. Pieced backs make me wonder how they will line up, especially with straight line quilting, but this worked pretty well. 

 Here is another closeup so you can see the prints. Mixed some yellow in there because the brown was getting overwhelming and the fall colors need some yellow, yes? So I had to throw some in the brown binding too- just some smatters, like fallen leaves.

 The thrown-carelessly-over-a-chair look.

 I did not plant that ball. But it does bring out the yellow in the binding. Thanks dear toddler.

All folded up. Love that brown print with the flowers.

Did I overdo it with the pictures? Hopefully not. I was having fun celebrating my finish, and wondering who will love this quilt? Hopefully a kid who needs a extra bit of love and comfort.

Linking? Why yes I am. Also to Sew Modern Monday!

Project from a craft book (Amy Butler of course)

I have been on a road trip the last week and just got in my sewing room yesterday, so I am posting just to keep up. I wanted to show off a project I completed for my son a while ago, from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. This is the quick change tabletop set. It made a nice nesting project for me before my son was born, and I loved having a nice place to change him in different rooms- instead of buying a changing table we were able to use this on top of a dresser. 

Again, I am not sure of the fabric maker or name of the prints, as this came from a gifted stash, but I know the flannel I used for the removable pad was from a receiving blanket. Those turned out to be very ubiquitous and useless for swaddling, but nice for covering a changing table!

The pattern was easy to work with, and the real challenge was prepping the materials, because it asks for high density foam, and for it to be cut to exacting measurements- and me without the suggested electric serrated knife! I muddled through and was able to get the fabric to fit over the bolsters (in some cases just barely!) and it worked wonderfully.

The genius of this design is many fold, and it was the most useful thing I made for my son so far.

1. The changing pad itself is removable (you may be able to see in the picture above, the extra edge) and attaches with velcro, so when it gets dirty (say, 15 times a day) you can wash it separately.
2. The bolsters on the sides are also removable, so they can be washed when they get dirty as well. Saying this reminds me- sewing that velcro was also kind of a pain. And I was surprised how expensive it was to outfit this pad in velcro! Shocking!
3. The little pocket on the side is lovely for storage and makes the whole deal look that much better finished. That Amy Butler, she does know how to make even a diaper disaster area look good!
4. The length is nice and was useable for a long period of time, even with a pretty long baby. By the time he really started rolling around I was on the floor anyway.
5. No need to buy extra furniture, or to move something heavy when baby changes rooms- moved easily from my dresser to his room and to the floor for visitors or roly poly babies.

Overall, highly recommend this project, very useful, very cute and makes a nice decorative (and customizable) addition to a baby room.

I made a few other things from this book- the modern diaper bag pattern I posted about here with pictures (end of the post), and I will have to show off the snuggie blanket some other time :)

Linking up to Craft Buds for Craft Book Month!