Pattern Challenge

This week I received an email from Sarah at Come and See the Seitz about joining in on a Garment Construction Challenge. Basically it involves setting a goal and deadline for sewing an item or items of clothing – something to push yourself a little further. After you’ve completed your garment, you post pics and a wrap up in the Flickr group and there will be a whole gallery of patterns and reviews. Great idea, huh?

I have 2 dresses I want to make for Avery (my 3 year old). My goal is to make these by Easter.

First, is Sandi Henderson’s Gracie Pattern, option B, the Tiered Dress. I am planning on using Swing Toss Pink fabric from Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane line.

My second is a dress pattern I purchased off Etsy called the Miss Madeline dress. I’m pretty sure I’m going to use a few of the new Anna Maria Horner fabrics for this one (even though my husband is apparently not a fan!) He’s crazy, I know.

I’ll be blogging about these dresses as I make them! I hope you consider joining the challenge!

Sew New to Me VQB : First Block Received and the “Vision”

I’m so excited, I received my first quilting bee block in the mail this week! It arrived from Jessica over at Twin Fibers, and it is just beautiful! She threw in some great turquoise and blue fabrics, including one of my favorites by Denyse Schmidt. Thanks Jessica!

Of course, as soon as I got the block I couldn’t resist getting started on my vision for the quilt. And since a picture is worth a thousand words….enjoy!

Sew New to Me VQB : Map of the States

I’m so excited! February is my month in the Sew New to Me Virtual Quilting Bee. After a lot of going back and forth as to what type of block I wanted everyone to make, I settled on the Map of the States blocks, ala Oh Fransson. I’ve always thought these blocks were so cool, but I wasn’t sure I had it in me to make an entire quilt out of them.

As I started to cut into my fabric and organize piles for everyone, I started getting really excited. I decided to send everyone fabric from Amy Butler’s Daisy Chain line, as well as a couple solids. I had been saving the fabric for something special and I think this counts. I wasn’t really sure how much to send, so I made my block for the month to test my piles. I ended up having enough, but just barely, so I threw more in for good measure.

I’ll be posting the blocks I receive as they arrive. My month doesn’t officially begin for a few more days, but I know there’s one block already on it’s way to me!

Fabric selection:

Cut and ready to go:

Free is Good

Not too long ago, I was searching online for cute skirt and dress patterns for my 3 year old, Avery. I stumbled upon a fairly easy looking FREE skirt pattern at Oliver + S. If you have any little girl (or boy) to sew for, you must check them out. They have the more darling things. Anyway, I couldn’t pass up something free! So I printed it out and it sat in a pile of patterns at my sewing table.

Today my kids spent the morning at the grandparents house so I had a glorious 4 hours to do whatever I wanted. Unfortunately, most of it was spent grocery shopping at Target and Trader Joe’s. Well afterwards I had enough time to hit up my local fabric stores! I finally was able to see Heather Bailey’s new line, Nicey Jane. It is so cute!! I bought a bit of it, some FQs for a future quilt and a couple yards for a dress for Avery and the free skirt pattern I had downloaded.

After the kids got home and went down for their nap, I decided to try making the skirt. It was SO easy. Seriously, it took me under an hour and less than 3/4 a yard of fabric (1/2 yard of the green and 1/4 yard of the white.) I changed the pattern slightly by using a coordinating fabric on the bottom, rather than a ribbon. I plan on making many more of these, hopefully Avery likes it as much as I do. Here’s the finished product!

A King Sized Dilemma

Last month, Ashley from Film in the Fridge posted these blocks, made from Denyse Schmidt’s new line Hope Valley. I instantly fell in love. It’s funny, because before I saw those blocks, I didn’t even think I liked her new line and wasn’t planning on buying any. (I think Ashley should get a commission on my purchase! LOL)

I had never made blocks like these either. I loved the look, I was pretty sure I could improvise them, but again, had never actually done it. So I started out by just blatantly copying a few of Ashley’s to get the hang of it. She was even kind enough to post the Kona Solid colors she used that matched!) Once I felt like I knew what I was doing, I started creating my own. I just was loving how it was looking. And the blocks were fun to make.

I wanted to make a king sized quilt/duvet out of these. My husband is really into the down comforter. Basically I would lightly quilt this and then attach a back afterwards (to make it a duvet). It requires 56 blocks. (14.5″ each) I had this grand vision of how my master bedroom would being decorated, this quilt being the centerpiece.

So here is the dilemma. I casually showed my husband the stack of blocks and asked him what he thought of them (he really only looked at the one on the top.) He doesn’t know I plan to make these into something for our bedroom. His response? “Eh. Not my favorite.” {insert my heart breaking here!}

So what do I do? I’m thinking he doesn’t see the whole vision. But what if I spend the next 4 months making this quilt and he hates it? Do I just go ahead anyway? (That is the way I’m leaning).

Personally, I think it’s going to be awesome and he’s crazy.

ETA: Thank you for all the feedback!!! You guys are great. I think I will lean more blocks in the non-pink direction (chocolate, etc) and then make the top and show it to him on the bed. If he’s highly offended, I will make it a lightweight quilt to fold at the bottom of the bed so it’s not overpowering. If he is ok with it, I’ll make it into a duvet!

Beep Beep Boy Quilt

This quilt is a special present for a baby boy. I don’t want to spoil the surprise for who it is for, so I’ll just leave it at that.

I was inspired by a couple quilts found on Flickr. First, Christin at Hazelnut Designs used this fabulous Japenese fabric on a boy quilt she made recently. I immedietely went over the Etsy to buy a bit! I had originally intended on using it for something for my son….but then I just thought it would be perfect for this project. Maybe next time Kyler!

The design was inspired by a quilt by Sarah over at Looking In, Urban Amish. Isn’t it beautiful?

I added little blocks on the back, scraps for a minimalist modern feel. I used charcoal because I thought this would be a great play mat for the floor, and this way dirt won’t show!

I quilted this using straight lines spaced about 2.5″ apart. The binding is a fun stripe by Lizzy House. Seriously, who doesn’t like striped binding? The final quilt measures about 46″ x 40″.

January: Quilting Bee Block

We were back in the swing of things January with the Sew New to Me Virtual Quilting Bee. It was Cristin from Hazelnut Designs turn and she asked us to make a block that used squares and/or rectangles. She sent really cool green and gray fabric. I immediately knew what type of block I wanted to make! I hope you like it Christin!

Next month is my month – eek! I told my husband that he needs to watch the kids for a bit this weekend so I can organize and package all the fabric for mailing. It’s a bit overwhelming to think about! I think I’ve settled on my block type though…I’ll let it be a surprise.

Linen Pillows

Happy 2010! I can’t believe how fast the last year flew by. So much occurred in the last 12 months….most notably welcoming my little Kyler into the family last March. I can’t wait to see what this year holds.

I spent the holidays in northern Michigan so I was away from my laptop AND sewing machine for over a week. Talk about withdrawal! I have only been home 2 days but have been busy working on 3 different quilts to show (hopefully) soon!

In the meantime, I wanted to share the pillows I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas. She gave me some scrap fabric that was left over from 2 chairs in their family room. Inspired by this pillow by Meringue Designs, I immediately ordered some linen and created four pillows. I didn’t have a variety of fabrics like the pillow from my inspiration, so I cut squares and rectangles out of the same fabric and sewed them together. I think it made for a pretty interesting design.

Linen was harder to work with than I thought. I had heard it was challenging, but really you never know until you do it! I really couldn’t get a good handle on quilting it, so I didn’t.

As you can see here, they match the chair!

I hope everyone had a wonderful break with their families and look forward to see what you all create too in 2010!

Winter Rainbow Quilt Top

I will save the story behind this quilt for when it is actually finished, but I wanted to share the quilt top because I’m so excited to have finished it last night! I think the bright colors will be what saves me during the long winter ahead. It is, of course, inspired by one of my quilting idols, Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. I hope everyone else in US is staying warm out there!

Off to sew Christmas presents! Nothing like a deadline!

MoMo Wonderland Redux

Finally, the quilt I’ve been working on here and there for 2 months is finished! Several projects came and went while my second MoMo Wonderland quilt sat waiting patiently for me to find time to work on it. Last night, while the snow was falling and we were watching Charlie Brown, I finally found the time to hand stitch the binding.

I just love this fabric and sadly, this is the last of my stash. I used a layer cake for the front. I cut each piece in half, sewed 2 together and then cut them to squares. The back is my favorite MoMo Wonderland print – the butterflies. I just happened to stumble across them at one of my local quilt shops. So lucky!

I quilted this one with straight lines. It was my first time using the walking foot on my new Bernina. W-O-W. It is SO much better than my old Walmart Brother walking foot! I see a lot more straight line quilting in my future. In one direction, the lines are quilted 1/4″ on each side of the seams. (So 2 lines in that direction) In the other direction I quilted down the seams. (So 1 line in that direction). The final quilt measures 38″ x 54″.