Hexagon Bag

This is a project I have had on my mind for a while.  I originally saw it in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine August 2011.

From the first moment I saw the eggplant purple, lime greens, navy and aqua blues, grays - don't forget my favorite color -tangerine! from V and CO. fabric lines, I knew I had to make something from them.  The hexagon body of the bag is Simply Style, the handles/top strip of the bag are Graphite Gray Floral and  the lining is leafy sprigs in gray from the Simply Color line.

I think my first attempt at set-in seam hexagons went pretty well, don't you?

Fabric Therapy (and other things)

Things are slowly calming down around here, so (hopefully) I'll be back to posting with my normal schedule!

My little household has been hit by some nasty bug that's been going around.  Luckily, it is starting to look like we are on the upside of it all.

The day before Easter Sunday we had just finished dinner and were getting ready to dye eggs when the phone rang.  It was my father-in-law saying he was at the airport and where were we?!  Um. Apparently my husband's side of the family forgot to tell us that he was coming.  I frantically started picking up the house and had the kiddos dye eggs while my husband went to pick his Dad up.

Amongst visitors and tending to an ill husband and kiddos, I did take a day to run to a fabric shop in town that I had never been to before.  They had quite a few prints that I have only been able to find online.  Here's what I bought.




From top to bottom: Simply Color by V and Co. for Moda, Noteworthy by Sweetwater, and
Spot On by Robert Kaufman 

Also, a little online fabric shopping.  I bought a few pieces from Hawthorne Threads and Pink Castle Fabrics.  Some of this fabric was bought for a specific purpose (as noted in the photos below - Pretty Princess Sew Along hosted by Cut to Pieces.)  Some was just because.

Alice in Wonderland dress: Polka Dot Stitches by Lori Holt in Clean White and
Tiny Gingham in Blue by Michael Miller

Rapunzel dress: from left to right - all from Michael Miller
Clown Stripe, Cotton Couture in Purple, Cotton Couture in Crocus
 and Cotton Couture in Blossom



Penguins in Blue by Nancy Wolfe for Kokka Japan and
 Headliner in Black from In The Doghouse

I first saw that penguin print on Don't Call Me Betsy and had to have it!  Luckily there was a 1/2 yard left in stock so I snagged it!

It seemed like a long time had gone by since I purchased any fabric, as everything I have been making lately, I've been trying to utilize what I already had in my stash!  It's nice to see some new prints mixed in with my current.

Tomorrow is the preschool's annual field trip out here to the ranch; then it's a weekend spent with my sewing machine!

WIP - Attacking those WIPS

I feel like I am making some progress on these long overdue WIPs.

My neutral and blue quilt is in the process of being basted.  Here's a photo of the back.  Still debating on how I am going to quilt this one.

A long time ago,  I showed these fabrics from Art Gallery that I wanted to use for Rachel's Colorbrick quilt.

Here they are finally all cut up.  I am waiting on some fabric for the sashing to come (sheesh - I thought I had enough of what I wanted to use, but apparently I used it for some other projects.)

This quilt was to be for me.  Really excited about this one!

And just because I needed a quick project.  I made this pen/pencil holder from the book Zakka Style.  Pens and pencils are always ending up at the bottom of my bags, this at least helps me to find them a little faster.

What are you working on this week?

Linking up to Freshly Pieced.

Giveaway Winner

I asked Logan to draw a number out of a hat...

And the winner of the 5 La Femme Fat Quarters is:

 



Congratulations Joanne H.  I am sending you an e-mail now.

 

 



WIP - The Start of an Awesome Lunch Bag

Do you remember this train fabric I showed in a WIP post back in October?

I said I planned on making a lunch bag out of it.  Well, it's not done but at least it's started...

And here is the progress on my neutral/blue quilt.

Quilt/Bind:

Log cabin quilt

No progress:
Beatrix Potter quilt (fabric hunting)
Barn quilt
Husband's shirt
Felt Christmas ornaments
Colorbrick quilt
Baby quilt for Susan (triangle quilt)
Logan's wall hanging
Summer skirt - just need to hem!
Zakka nesting boxes
Community quilt with preschool (waiting on hands to be completed.)

In progress:
Neutral quilt
Train Lunch bag


Stats:
New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
No progress: 9
In progress: 2


What are you working on?

Last Minute Holiday Making

On Saturday, I had the crazy notion that I needed to battle the mall in order to get my 2 year old daughter, Aslyn, something for Christmas. I had yet to get or make her anything and time was running low. 

Upon this "quest" I realized that the mall has absolutely nothing for a 2 year old girl.  With my 4 year old son in tow, we frantically searched three stores only to come out with a pair of pajamas my son picked out for her from him (it has trains on it,) and a few beaded necklaces.

I think I have mentioned before that every time I have my kids with me at my local quilt shops, they pick out a fabric for their own little stash.  So yesterday, I decided to whip a couple of things up for Aslyn with some of her stash fabric.

 

First was a little purse; she loves getting into mine.  I found this tutorial here.  The outer fabric is Urban Zoologie, handle and lining is A Stitch in Color Little Dot Clementine.

 

Second, a doll quilt.  Currently, she takes her little stuffed animals and tries to wrap them in twin to queen size blankets.  I received the hexagons from my swap partner in the Post-Summit Swap.  

   



 

 

This quilt will more than likely get lots of use, lots of dragging around the house and outside, lots of washing; therefore I quilted it rather densely with straight lines.  I had quilted around the outer edge of each hexagon and skipped over those with my straight lines, so the hexagons kind of pop out a bit.

 

 

 

I had some trouble with the fabric feeding through my machine.  For some reason my feed dogs weren't catching it.  So, it's not the best quality work.  But I don't think Aslyn or her "bebes" will mind.

 









16th WIP of 2012

Hey all!  It's dark and gray with a snow storm swirling in right now.  How's that holiday sewing coming along?

I decided to make Logan's teachers some lunch bags for this Christmas.  The fabric is La Femme by Melissa Crowley that I won from the Zakka Sew Along.  It's so pretty!  A few pieces of my stash make these bags up as well.  Most of you will recognize the layout as Ayumill's tutorial. 

Remember that community project for Logan's school I spoke about.  I am making a quilt with the kids; each kid is making a block of their hand and I will sew them all together and quilt it.

Here are the one's who have finished their blocks.  Aren't they coming along nicely?  Some of the kids are really getting into sewing, so I have had several parents approach me with questions on what materials to buy and encouraging their child in this interest.

Notice Logan's block isn't in there. 

Now for that triangle quilt that I started way back when.  This is where I am at now.  I don't know.  This is for a little special someone, but admittedly I am losing momentum on it.  I am trying so hard to power through.

Check out other work-in-progress projects over at Freshly Pieced.

A Swap, A Tote

After the sewing summit, I received an e-mail about a post sewing summit swap; which I decided to jump on.  This was my first "handmade" swap, so admittedly I was a little apprehensive.

Now most of you are swap veterans, so you can skim past the details to the good part.  ;)

The idea of the swap was to keep up with something we learned from sewing summit.  Everyone who wanted to be involved filled out a "profile" form with likes, dislikes, what they would like to receive, etc.  My one sewing class was a pocket one, so I thought this project would be good. 

My partner (who I will not reveal as she has not received this yet) said she would like to receive a zippered or metal frame pouch, a tote bag, or a pin cushion.  I fixated on making a tote.  What's silly is that tote bags are probably one of the easier bags to make (depending on how you make yours), yet they are not my strong suit.

However, I am also not one to back down from my faults challenges!

I found this pattern in an issue of Modern Patchwork.  Duck fabric makes up the body and the pocket is pieced with fabric from Pat Bravo's Indie collection.  The original pattern had interchangeable pockets, which I decided not to do.  It also did not call for lining the tote, but I did do that to make it seem a little more refined.

I hope she likes it!

Community Quilt

Logan's preschool has a program called "Community Elder."  Basically, someone from the community comes in and teaches or talks to the class about something.  There have been lots of music, paper making from recycled egg cartons and paper tubes, as well as potion making (for Halloween.)

Yesterday was "part 1" of my community elder project.  My job is to teach the kids how a quilt is made.  The idea is to have each kid sew a block and then I quilt it for the school.

These are some of the fabrics I chose to use.  Silly me, I didn't take a picture of all of the fabric before I set the kids on them!  The reds were the first to go.

My example block.  In my haste (I decided to do an example block right before I was to leave to teach the class) I used my sewing machine to go around my hand - the kids are all hand stitching theirs on.

Each child wrote his name on his block; I think I'm going to embroider the names.  One little girl was so excited about this project - I'm sure if I showed her how, she could probably embroider her own name.

They are all doing such a great job on their blocks!  In fact, Logan's teachers told me that instead of resting at rest time, all the kids were sitting around stitching away!

14th WIP of 2012

A little sewing has been happening in my neck of the woods.

I've been working on this nesting box from the Zakka Style book by Rashida Coleman-Hale.

 

 

I am participating in the Scrappy Stash quilt along over at Ellison Lane Quilts.  My purple blocks are done!  I am working on my last red block and then onto green, blue, and orange/yellow.

 



Every time I go to a fabric store, my son Logan picks out a fabric for his "stash".  Our last trip he picked this fabric.

We recently decided that this fabric should become a new lunch box for him.  After perusing my stash for an interior lining, he decided on the one below.

Quilt/Bind:Log cabin quilt

No progress:
Beatrix Potter quilt (fabric hunting)
Barn quilt
Husband's shirt
Felt Christmas ornaments
Colorbrick quilt
Baby quilt for Susan
Logan's wall hanging

In progress:
Summer skirt - just need to hem!

Scrappy Stash quilt along
Zakka nesting boxes

 

Stats:
New projects: 1
Completed projects: 0
No progress: 7
In progress: 3

Linking up to Freshly Pieced

Sewing Summit Recap

Hey guys!  Well, I'm back from Sewing Summit and so inspired.  I am just overflowing with new ideas, new changes (more on this later), and new friends.

There was just so much going on I don't even know where to begin really.  As you may or may not know (did I even mention this?) we drove.  Yep.  My little family drove from New Mexico to Salt Lake City - 22 hours (round trip) of all of us in a car.  Our first "major" road trip - and a whole lot of nothing for miles and miles and miles....

There were so many talented people.  I felt small and timid next to many of them; being a natural introvert didn't help either.

Many great sponsors made up this year's sewing summit such as Craftsy, Riley Blake, Babylock just to name a few.  Here are just some of the goodies that got to come home with me.

The keynote speaker - Joel Dewberry!  He showcased his new fabric line Notting Hill.  Which I think is just gorgeous!

Erin Singleton and her staff did a terrific job! I couldn't even imagine putting on such an event. All that time and effort!

I won a prize at the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild mixer on Friday night!  Riley Blake's Puppy Park.

 It was a privilege to take a class and meet Carol Van Zandt.  She gave me this beautiful fat quarter bundle - Tokyo Rococo.  I'm thinking this will make a really pretty new bag!

There was much, much more that went on and happened.  I am still wrapping my mind around it all. 

12th WIP of 2012 - Organizing the Stash

Over the last few days, I have been using all my free time to turn this mess (read more here) of fabric and fabric scraps into a nicely organized one. 

I had purchased comic book backing boards a while ago, so figured now was as good time as any to start using them.  I still have more fabrics to wrap around the boards, but this is a start and makes me so. happy!

Even my fat quarters - I refolded each one in an uniform manner and placed them in a canvas box.

Next will be organizing my smaller scraps.

And what else have I been doing besides all this organizing?  Well, I started cutting out triangles.

 Ultimatley this will become a lap quilt for someone I have in mind; I have thoughts on what all these triangles to turn into, but also am just going to see where they think they belong.

And in case you missed it, I finished up my granny square quilt.  You can read all about it here.

That just about sums up this week.  Linking up to other great works in progress over at Freshly Pieced.

Generosity

We all know that quilters/sewers are some of the most generous people.  We pour our hearts into our projects, and if you are like me, give each one away to someone.

In troubled times, we help with the gift of a quilt (or other small token made by our own two hands.)  Whether it be pillowcases for the local homeless shelter/children's hospital, quilts for soldiers overseas, or for a disaster (such as the those who lost their homes in the fires.)

While I was on vacation, my sister and I went to a couple of quilt shops.  One of them was questionable on whether it was still open or not, since it was based out of someones home.  A few years earlier, my Mom and sister had gone by and the owner said her shop was closed.  We decided to drive by anyway and see if the situation was the same.

Upon walking through the open door, there were bolts of fabrics from ceiling to floor along the walls, as well as completed mini quilts and other such decor.  We could hear children talking but could not find anyone around.  My husband peeked upstairs and found the owner, explained to her what we were doing there.  It turned out that the fabric portion of her shop was closed, but she does long arm quilting, and that portion is still open.  All of those pretty bolts were her personal stash!

Instead of kicking us out, she showed us around her long arm studio and we chatted for a while - turns out she was a teacher at a neighboring school and we knew a lot of the same people - it really is a small world!

She asked me if I had sewn with flannel. 

Yes, not much though. 

Did you like it? 

Yeah sure.

She then proceeded to fill up a bag of fabrics for me to take home; fat quarters and cotton yardage pieces!

I couldn't believe it!  What a very generous gesture!  Quilters/sewers are truly the best!

11th WIP of 2012

I have had my little sewing machine whirring away this past week.  We've decided to go see family and friends in Washington State, so I am trying to get a few projects done before we go!

First, my Mom asked if I would make her a coupon clutch (you might remember I made one for a dear friend and my sister this past Christmas.)  When I asked my Mom what colors she would like, she said "springy ones."  I used Flora by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda.  This one just might be my favorite!

Linked up my water bottle holder for the Zakka Style sew along.  You can read all about it here.

Made the little sewing kit from the Zakka Style book.  Isn't it cute!  I'm making another one but haven't figured out what colors to use yet or whether I want to make it with a little bit bigger dimensions or not.  The fabric used was scraps left over from my sister's apron and her coupon clutch.

  

I just got this voile fabric in by Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks collection.  Oh, it is so soft!!  The plan is to make springy-summery scarves with it!

Quilt/Bind:Log cabin quilt

No progress:
Beatrix Potter quilt (fabric hunting)
Barn quilt
Husband's shirt
Felt Christmas ornaments
Bottled Rainbow quilt
Winterwoods ABC Cross Stitch
Colorbrick quilt
Baby quilt for Susan

In progress:
Granny square quilt
Summer skirt - just need to sew on the waistband!

Stats:
New projects: 1
Completed projects: 3
No progress: 8
In progress: 2

Linking up to Freshly Pieced

Baby Quilt Update

I meant to show this baby quilt earlier, but things got pretty hectic around here.  My little pea was sick for a few days, then I got it, you know how it goes.

If you remember, I had three days to complete this quilt.  There is quite a bit of Chelsea Manor by Anne Sutton, some Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy Eyelet in pink.  Not sure the manufacturers of the yellow prints as 1. I have had them forever and 2. selvages were not attached.  I even went as far as to go through my selvage stash but there wasn't anything in there from these prints.  Oh well.

It's hard to tell in the picture and I didn't snap one of just the binding before gifting the quilt, but I used another Chelsea Manor print and added a few leftover coins to add some pops of color throughout.

Another row of coins on a pieced back and wallah!  A quilt fit for a new little bundle of joy!

Baby Quilt

I recently received a text message from a family friend inviting me to her son's, girlfriend's baby shower.  I have met both new-to-be parents at family events (i.e. Christmas, Mother's Day, etc.) but really do not know them all that well.  However, since my family has been friends with theirs for 30 years I feel that whether I attend or not (cattle work is being done so my attendance is still up in the air,) I should have a little something for the new parents.

The baby shower is on Sunday.  Yep.  Sunday!  Not a whole lot of time to put a gift together.  The information I have attained thus far, they are having a little girl and the nursery is in yellow and brown.

I searched through my fabric stash for their color scheme, not a whole lot there in yellows and browns.  It's not that I use these colors a lot, I just don't buy them often, a shame I know!

One of the yellow prints I found has a bit of pink in the center of the flower, so I added in some of Denyse Schmidt's eyelet in pink from the Flea Market Fancy line for a little pop of color.

Obviously, something quick and simple is needed for this baby quilt due to the time restraint.  For babies though, simple seems the way to go anyway.

I decided to do the quilt in a coin stack style.  Here is what is up on my design wall so far.

Another row of coins and a slight rearranging of colors, then I should be able to get my ol' sewing machine a whirring.

Three days to go until deadline!