Advent Calendar

I finished the advent calendar over the weekend – just in time! I am loving how it turned out, although I must say it took a LOT longer than I had anticipated. More on that later. (First, can I give a shout out to my 3 year old holding the quilt for me in the above photo? I think my husband’s job as photo assistant may be in jeopardy! LOL)

I followed the tutorial on Sew Mama Sew by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson. I had actually been looking at this tutorial back in the summer and thought “why would I make this now? I’ll wait until closer to Christmas!” HA There’s something stressful about having a deadline like December 1, when you are rushing to get ready for the holidays.

So…why it took me so long. Mainly, it was those pesky numbers. I’m not good at freehand sewing around things, especially 1.5″ numbers. Lots of tight curves and it’s very obvious if it doesn’t look perfect. I thought this would be a perfect time to use my new embroidery module on the Bernina to do appliques! Well, it was….but it was not a quick task. Lots of hooping of fabric and stabilizer. Lots of trimming fabric. And I failed to consider that most numbers on the calendar are really TWO numbers (24 = 2 and 4). So that part took about 5 times longer than I thought.

Forming the pockets took a bit of time but after that it was smooth sailing.

You can’t really tell, but on the front, the white is a Michael Miller fabric with snowflakes. I thought that was a cute variation.

The back view shows the quilting. I did free motion in the borders, a bit challenging not to hit the pockets and sew them shut accidentally.

I’m going to fill these with candy and hopefully start a fun tradition at our house for years to come!

Flea Market Fancy Giveaway!

Calling all fans of Flea Market Fancy! Penny over at Sew Take a Hike and Flea Market Fancy Freaks is hosting an awesome giveaway! Books, stationary, FABRIC! If you haven’t already, be sure to go check it out and see. And don’t forget to sign the petition to bring this fabric back into production! I know I would love to get my hands on some of those beautiful blues.

Twin Surfer

I finished my first twin quilt! This quilt was made for my husband’s cousin’s son (got that? LOL) who is moving to his “big boy” bed from his crib. I had a great time making it, and I feel like I’ve really accomplished something as it’s the biggest quilt I’ve made so far.

I was thinking of everything I used for this quilt…12 yards of fabric, 130-7.5″ squares, 500+ meters of thread, 1 package of batting, 350 basting safety pins, 3 hours of sewing binding….I feel like I should finish by singing “And a partridge in a pear tree!”

This one is quilted free motion and it took about 4 hours which was less time than I expected. I knew that binding would take a while though and it did! Totally worth it though. Does anyone else start getting REALLY excited when you see that you are almost done hand sewing that binding and nearing completion?

The back is a Kona Solid and stripe of the fabrics used on the front.

I just love these “windy quilt” photos. And one thing we have a lot of in Chicago is wind.

I also made a pillowcase using this tutorial and a throw pillow from the scraps. I think this will make an adorable little boy room that he can grow into for years to come!

Twin Quilting

I thought I’d share this photo to show that I’m not just lazing around over here. One thing I’ve learned on this latest project – a twin quilt is bigger than it sounds! I am in the process of quilting it using my fancy new Bernina Stitch Regulator. Which I love by the way. I’m about 1/5th the way done and am hoping between nap time and the weekend, I’ll be binding by Sunday night.

I also had to share this next photo for everyone to see my “cage”. LOL Yep, this is what happens when you want to sew but have an adorable, 8 month old trouble maker crawling everywhere. We have a finished basement which is our playroom and I’ve put my sewing area down there so I can work while the kids play. Kyler loves getting under my sewing table and going straight for the cords! It’s funny because he will crawl up to the gate and cry, it’s almost like he thinks HE’S the one in the cage, not me! I’ve promised myself that after this quilt is done, I will clean up my space and take a proper picture to share. I swear I’m not normally this messy!

Two Special Rag Quilts for Two Special Babies

When I was pregnant with my daughter who is now 3, I joined an online group of other expectant moms who were also due in October 2006. It was such a great group. We had many other first time moms like me as well as some moms that had already had children who provided much needed advice and words of wisdom. Fast forward to today and we are still together. We have watched each other’s babies grow to toddlers and supported each other through marriages, divorces, illness, more births, and the extreme sadness of death. Many of us have met and become friends in real life. This group of ladies is a huge part of my life now.

I made these rag quilts for the new babies of two of our moms. These moms have babies just a month or so younger to my Kyler’s age of 8 months. And those babies are both facing challenges. One will be having open heart surgery in less than 2 weeks and one will be having a kidney removed next month. These surgeries are expected to fix the medical problems for both, but these are major surgeries. I think anyone, especially a parent out there, can sympathize with the emotions their parents are feeling right now. So I post today with these rag quilts, to request prayers and positive thoughts for these tiny babies.

Arcadia String Pillows

I’m checking something off of my list! Today I finished the string block pillows. As I mentioned in my last post, I saw these on Ashley from Film in the Fridge’s blog and *needed* them for my couch. I just love how they turned out! They are 18″ squares. I made the string blocks 7.5″ squares and then added the white sashing around the finished block. For the back, I just added a stripe from my Arcadia jelly roll. I’m hoping my husband likes these when he sees them tonight. (He can be a bit picky!)

Back:

A Little of This and a Little of That

I have a lot of projects going on right now. A lot. I need to stop starting new things and wrap a few up! I thought I’d share a bit of what’s in the pipeline. (And the scary thing is, this isn’t everything!)

The string squares above are not for another string quilt. I remember saying it’d be a LONG time (if ever) before I take a project like that on again. Well, ever since I saw these pillows from Ashely at Film in the Fridge, I knew I needed them for my couch! I’ve had an Arcadia jelly roll sitting here for just this purpose for a few months it seems. Well, I’ve started!

My husband’s cousin asked me to make her son a quilt for his first “big boy” bed. Of course I would! She picked out Riley Blake fabric, mixed in some surfer prints, for an adorable twin quilt. I finished the top this week and am waiting for the backing fabric to come in the mail.

There is a quilt in the book Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts that I’ve adored since I purchased the book. Well, I decided since I didn’t have ENOUGH other things going on, that this would be the right time to start it. LOL I’ll be using fabric from Denyse Schmidt’s Katie Jump Rope line. I actually have all the patterned fabric cut, but need to cut the white still.

And today, just for fun and instant gratification, I made my son some new reversible bibs. I just took one of his junky bibs and traced it with about 1/4″ extra on all edges. I put a layer of batting in the middle and poof! Instant adorable bibs!

I still have that second MoMo Wonderland quilt pinned and waiting to be quilted, and have started this tutorial for an advent calendar. (That one has an obvious deadline!) So what are you working on?

Oh Happy Joy!

It finally came (yesterday)! My Bernina Aurora 440QEE! Say hello to the nicest thing in my house now. LOL What can I say? It’s awesome. No more machine moving across the table while I sew, no more extra stitches after I take my foot off the pedal. No more wonky seam allowances.

At first I was a bit worried about the learning curve. I couldn’t even figure out how to put the accessories in the accessory box! But the manual is great. I even did some test embroidery. I am able to take 5 classes through my Bernina dealer and have already signed up for the first class on my machine and the first embroidery class.

So, I thought I would share the photos I took while opening the boxes and getting set up! Enjoy!

Manuals:

Machine and Toys:

What’s in the Sewing Machine Box:

Embroidery Module:

All Set Up:

Testing Embroidery:

Autumn Squares Quilt

Just in time to see the last leaves turn and fall from the trees, I’ve finished my fall quilt! I started to feel the pressure this week as the wind and rain came and blew so many of the beautiful red leaves away. I considered waiting for a day with blue skies to take my pictures….but hey, this is Chicago and that could be awhile!

I used fabric from my stash for the blocks of this quilt – lots of Amy Butler, with a sprinkling of Lizzy House and Heather Bailey. I originally planned on making this quilt twice as big, but life got in the way so I used the spare squares on the back for a really cool effect. The sashing is Stone by Bella Solids. I love how it has the look of linen without being linen.

I quilted it free motion style but further apart than I usually do because I wanted it to be a it looser. My husband says this is his favorite quilt so far, which surprised me because he wasn’t all about it when I was making it. It measures 62″ x 44″.

Solids and Celebrations

I’ve been saying for a while now that I don’t have many solids. I’ve always felt that buying a solid here and there just isn’t as exciting as buying a stack of Amy Butler or Anna Maria Horner. Well, you can’t say the picture above isn’t exciting! I finally broke down and ordered a whole slew of 1/2 yard Kona colors from Pink Chalk Fabrics. And they happened to arrive today – my birthday!

But my real birthday present is coming later this week. (And Christmas present, and the next birthday and Christmas, and so on…) I was actually hoping it would arrive today and was going to wait to post about it until I got the call….but over the weekend I purchased a new sewing machine. Bernina was having a big financing sale, 1 day only. Zero interest with equal payments over 48 months. So I bought the machine I have been looking at for a long time, the Bernina Aurora 440QEE. I plan on using it for my One Lil’ Cupcake business, as well as for my quilting. I’m VERY excited and will do the big “unpackaging” post when it arrives.

I haven’t forgotten about my fall quilt. I’ve been waiting for the new machine to come to start quilting it. I also have another MoMo Wonderland quilt finished and waiting to be quilted.

After those, I have been asked by my husband’s cousin to make a quilt for her toddler son’s bed and I also am going to make an advent calendar, courtesy of Oh Fransson’s tutorial! Busy, busy, busy!