Stitches and Scissors

Working on my WIP's

2012-02-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

Well I have finally started on my quilt from Christina's Retro Flower Pattern. I have sooo many pink fabrics since I do love pink but for some reason I forget to sew with them. So I am finally going to make a whole pink quilt! I mean my favorite fabric EVER is the pink ladybug print from Tula Pink's Flutterby fabric line.

Christina's pattern is shown with each flower as one fabric but I decided to make mine scrappy since really scrappy things are my favorite! Ignore that I am not the best person at sewing all of my points so that they match up I am fine that they don't since I am not a perfectionist :)

I have also made 4 blocks for Gwenieve's mermaid quilt! I pulled out some Kona solids to go along with the fabrics.

This is totally out of my comfort zone sewing with so many different solids, I tend to stick with white and I am always happy but this fabric was screaming for all the different solid colors. It makes me nervous but I know that when it is all done it is going to look really great!

I also am sewing slowly on my new bed quilt using the Bowtie pattern, I have squares next to my sewing machine and sew some everyday so it is coming along. It is a HUGE quilt I am going for so it will take awhile :)

How is all of your WIP's coming along?

Infinity Scarf or Figure 8 Scarf

2012-01-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

I was getting alittle depressed thinking that it was my birthday coming up. I really hate getting older. I know it is dumb but I can't help it. Age scares me. Anywho I decided to go to a LQS to use up my 30% off they give for your birthday and bought some fabrics. This made me finally give in to the expensive Voile fabric to make myself the Infinity Scarf.

I used Anna Marie Horner's tutorial but I didn't use Velveteen or flannel like alot of people do. I used both Voile on both sides.

I was going for a accessory piece and not really something to keep me warm. I love the colors and the fabric is so soft and light. It really came out perfect and I love it. I might try to make one smaller next time but I love that this one is big and makes a statement.

I am 32 today and it is somewhat depressing. Couldn't I have stayed in my 20's for the rest of my life?!?!?! Oh well. Atleast I have a really great scarf to wear today to make me feel better. That and also getting to go to one of my favorite resturants Benihana's.

Finishing my WIPs

2012-01-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

This year I actually made a New Years Resolution for the very first time. To finish all of my WIPs before I start anything new.

Yesterday I started working on my Bowtie quilt which is a Cal King that will go on my bed. I made 2 of them and I am going to try to make 2 of them everyday.

Did any of you make any New Years Resolutions???

Instagram a photo a day challenge

2012-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

I forgot to take my first picture until today but I am still counting it. Brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.

Penelope's Star Quilt - tutorial

2011-12-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

I finished the top of my Interlocking Stars quilt today! Just in time so that I can count it as a 2011 finish. As you know I used my favorite fabric line Park Slope by Erin McMorris. I have loved this line for years and I am so happy that I finally choose a pattern for the fabrics and cut into it.

The quilt is 102"x 85". I made a rather large Twin size quilt since I wanted it to hang to the floor and not have to have a bed skirt. The quilt will go on Penelope's twin once we move her out of her crib.

Erin helped me to figure it all out on paper before I started.

Here is the breakdown:

6.5" blocks (they will be 6" finished)
14 Columns
17 Rows
47 Stars (47 prints for this quilt I doubled some of mine)
14 Fillers (fillers are just a square with 2 star points on them)
191 White squares

Cut out all your fabric first:

You need 47 prints for this quilt ( Park Slope is only 30 prints so I doubled 17 of the prints to get a total of 47 stars )

Cut out (5) 6.5" squares of each print. For a total of (235) 6.5" squares of your print fabric (there is 47 stars and each star is 5 squares)

Cut out (191) Kona White 6.5" squares

Then sew all the star points using this tutorial but don't sew the block together.

Trim all of the star points

Then lay the whole quilt out. This is what takes the longest as you need to piece it all together like a puzzle. Some stars do not have all 4 points on them. The points that are left over are your " Fillers" these are the ones you use to fill in the blank spots for the outside of the quilt. Just look at the quilt picture to see what I am talking about. They are points for the imaginary stars :)

After all of that was done I took a picture of it (just in case things got out of place) and started sewing it all together. I sewed it altogether in blocks and then sewed the blocks together in rows. Not all of your blocks are going to have the star in the center as shown in this picture. I just started sewing the blocks together starting in the top left corner of the quilt that was laid out on my floor and the first block just worked out to have the whole star.

If you have any questions just ask them in the comments. Hopefully this makes sense.

This quilt is just to large for me to quilt so I will be sending it out to the quilter I just need to find one first. I can't wait to get this one back and bound so that we can all enjoy it!

Christmas Presents

2011-12-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

This year Erin and I collaborated and decided to make each other Mini Quilts for our Christmas gifts. We each looked through our favorites on flickr to get an idea of what to make. I decided to go with a Plus quilt since Erin had a ton of them in her favorites and I knew that she had never made one yet.

Both Erin and I love green and aqua so I knew that is what I was going to make hers with but we did decide ahead of time that we had to have a piece of the orange Henna Garden & green moon dot fabric. I love that we did that now since I love the orange plus in the mini.

I washed it before I mailed it out to her since the crinkly look is just one of the best things about quilts.

We waited until we got eachothers in the mail and then got on Skype to watch eachother open them.

Erin made me a Wonky Snowball mini. Isn't it so great???

It looks great on my wall of mini's. My wall is a little out of place right now since my parents are here and staying in my sewing room so once they leave in a month or so I will get my room back together and take another picture.

I also made my friend Sara a boxy make-up pouch since she had said she loved mine.

I followed this tutorial but I added a strap and another tab. Next time I make this I think I will make it larger.

Well I am all done and ready for Christmas to get here. Tomorrow is going to be so much fun with the girls opening all of their gifts.

Giveaway Winner

2011-12-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

I picked the winner with the Random.org

#50 Which is Kristy from St. Louis Folk Victorian or Love Old Houses on Flickr which is hilarious since Kristy was my partner in the last Spicing up the Kitchen. Looks like you will be getting another package from me Kristy :)

Tyson's Quilt

2011-12-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

I finished the quilt I made for my Brother & his family for Christmas. I am pretty sure they don't read this blog so I can share the quilt with you before I mail. I started by calling my SIL and asking what they wanted for Christmas and she said they would love one of my quilts. This was a surprise to me since no one in my family had asked me to make them one. She told me the colors and I sent her a picture of fabrics to make sure she liked them.

Most people that don't sew or quilt do not understand how expensive and time consuming it is to make a quilt so I didn't want to make a quilt and not have them like it. That would suck! So once she gave me the go ahead with the fabrics I drew on a piece of paper the half circle for the drunkard path block. I drew out my own since all the downloads avalible were not the size I wanted. I wanted a large block so I would not have to make as many squares. Since I free handed it the block it came out alittle more square than circle but I love it now. I will be making a pdf download available soon so you can make this block to.

With my parents here for a couple of months I was able with the help of my Mom with the girls to get the top done in a day! It is 54" x 70".

Then the next day was the weekend and I rested since I came down with a bad cold. On Monday I was able to baste and quilt it.

I decided to spiral quilt in each square/circle and then to do straight lines on each side of the seams on each sides of the rows.

It is love.

Here is the back of the quilt you can see the quilting better.

This quilt is so fun and I think it is on my list next for me to make us one. I already have the fabric picked out for it.

For the back of the quilt I found an Alexander Henry print that is red and aqua which are the main colors of my brothers house and used what I had in my stash. Added in some Kona Azure and Kona Red for the binding to finish it off.

Now I just need to get this folded small and tight to fit in a box to mail it off to my brother so they can get it for Christmas!

The Sew Mama Sew giveaway is still going. Click here for the post to enter.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway! CLOSED.

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to giveaway a copy of the Sew to Swap book. I had a lot of fun contributing to this book if you want to read more on the book here is my post on it. I purchased this book with the thought in mind that I would give it away on my blog then remembered Sew Mama Sew giveaway day was coming and I thought it would be perfect!

This book is perfect for any crafter! Just leave a comment on this post and make sure that your email is provided so I have someway of getting in touch with you.

I will leave this giveaway open until December 16 at 5 p.m. PST. Don't forget to go over to Sew Mama Sew blog to enter more giveaways!

sewing the little things

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have a list. A long list. It is in my head (I really need to write it down I might sleep better). I am trying to mark off the smaller items before my parents get here which is in 5 days. I have made alot of progress.

Erin and I decided this year to do something different for each other for Christmas. We have never talked about what we are getting each other but this year decided to make mini quilts. I started making small squares in rainbow colors which are both of Erin's favorite.

I made her this mini but then after binding it I was not completely happy with it. It was to small and had things in it I knew Erin wouldn't like so I decided to start over and keep this one for myself. It looks great on my sewing wall.

I do love the straight line quilting that is Erin's favorite!

Then I started another one for her that I love and I am completely happy with but I will have to show you a picture of it after she receives it. Here is a small peek.

I signed up for a secret Santa swap among some of us on twitter. I am completely happy with my partner and knew exactly what I wanted to do. We did not have to make something we can buy something as our gift but I was in the mood to make my partner their gift. As you know I am obsessed with the Interlocking Stars pattern and I can't get enough of it. I thought it would be a perfect fit for my partner.

The mini quilt is along the larger side at 19.5" x 23.5" . I used Kona Ash since I thought my partner would like that instead of my signature white.

I usually don't do anything on the back of mini quilts since they get hung up on walls and you never see the back anyway but I had some extra squares so I though I might as well use them.

I have also been dying to make Jeni's awesome drawstring bags since she made one for Sewing Summit. Then she made a great tutorial. I finally got around to making both of my girls one. The only thing that is a pain is making the bias tape I hate making that it takes forever. I am so buying ribbon the next time I make one. Which probably won't happen since I make things last minute and won't want to run to the store LOL.

Gweniveve is a blue girl. Remember this quilt for her? So it was easy to make hers.

Penelope as you saw on my post yesterday, loves Minnie Mouse. I do not buy Disney fabric, to much for me, so I decided to do my own take on Minnie for hers. I raw edged appliqued on the Minnie which is totally not perfect but hey she is only 2.

The girls were in heaven. All day they carried around their bags and used the ties to carry them like backpacks and kept putting little fun things inside. This is why I sew. I love when people enjoy the things that I make.

Left on my list is some boxy zippy's for makeup and a pillow. Let's see if I have time in the next couple of days.......

still here.

2011-11-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

I always told myself I would only blog when I wanted to and not because I felt I had to. I would hate for it to feel like a job. So I am sorry that I have not been blogging as much as I used to. Erin and I were just talking about all of this the other day and then Megan said it perfectly yesterday on her blog. Dito to everything that she said. I have been sewing though and being busy with Penelope's birthday and Thanksgiving.

It was Minnie themed since that seems to be her most favorite lately. Luckily enough it was an easy cake for me to make since I try to make the girls their cake every year.

Then Thanksgiving was here and we went to my in laws for the day. Were I neglected to take any pictures. Terrible. I am getting lazy for sure. Oh wait I did take a picture of one of the pies I made on my lap on the way to my in laws. I do love homemade pies way better then store bought. Apparently all I was thinking about was Pumpkin Pie that day, can you blame me?

I sewed a couple of the great gathered clutches for a friend. One for an auction to benefit her mommy group and the other for her. Where I finally achieved perfect zipper ends thanks to this diagram. Don't sew on the ends at all!!! Who knew.

I had a good hair day. I had to take a picture to document.

I went to Disneyland to meet Jen from Mjandco! I was so excited to meet her in person finally after knowing eachother forever on flickr. We did a little fabric swap she was awesome to offer me a piece of the Mermaid fabric that I am collecting to make Gweniveve a quilt. The kids got along great and even though it was crowded we had a great time.

I have been sewing alot of the small things I have on my list since I wanted to get them out of the way before my parents get here ( on Monday!) so that my Mom and I can sew all the big things on my list. I will be back tomorrow with that post.

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving and you are all hanging out with your family and having fun. I love to play games and lucky for me I have a husband who plays them with me.

It has begun.

2011-11-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

I have bitten the big one. I have cut into my beloved Park Slope fabrics which is my favorite fabric line.

It has taken me along time to decide what pattern to use. It put alot of pressure on me since I didn't want to get it wrong. But I think I have got it right since I am in love with it already.

I am making a twin size and shooting for 85"x102" so that I have a good size overhang to cover the mattresses. I am so excited about this quilt. It has been awhile since I felt really inspired to make a quilt.

My parents are coming to stay with us for a couple of months and so I should be able to get alot of sewing done. I have 4 large quilts in the works so lets hope I can get them done! It is driving me crazy that I have that many WIPs.

Mini Quilt Challenge - Oh My Stars!

2011-11-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

I wanted to join Amy's Mini Quilt Challenge since mini quilts can just be anything they can turn into a quilt, pouch, mug rug, or my favorite a pillow. So yesterday I worked long and hard on my mini.

I have been wanting to make the interlocking stars quilt for a long time now since I saw Faith's awesome one and then Amber made a pillow version that was scrappy and I was hooked!

I of course turned my mini into a pillow since pillows are my favorite things.

I already have my fabric for my quilt version of this pattern. I am finally going to cut into my beloved Park Slope prints and make a twin size version ASAP. I am that in love with this pattern.

If you want to see some more awesome mini's and what everyone has done with them go over to Amy's post and check out all the mini's that have been linked. Also you can still join and link up your mini quilt!

I have come back to add my quilt stats as I have seen alot of people doing that in their posts:

size: 18" x 18"
design: inspired by Faith's Interlocking Stars Mini
fabrics: Kona White & lots of my favorite fabrics
Block sizes: 2.5" squares 3 blocks by 3 blocks
Quilted: White Dual Duty thread straight line quilting on each side of the seams

Sew to Swap - blog tour

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Over a year ago I was asked by Chrissie Grace to be apart of her new book about the online swapping community. I would be making blocks along with many other amazing quilters I know online and all the blocks would be made into quilts just like we do when we join a quilting bee or other swaps online. I was so excited!!! Stressed to since it was my first experience doing something like this but everyone was so great. The book has all the information on how to make a quilt from start to finish which is perfect for those that are still new to quilting plus it tells you how to run a swap either online or in person. I have to say swapping is what is so great about this online sewing community.

Here are the ones that I participated in making. The first one was the Vintage Hourglass quilt. It was alot of fun to work with vintage fabric since I had not made anything with it before.

Then I made nine patch blocks out of my stash of yellow & grey. Isn't that such a great color combo? I really love the colors but I have never made a quilt with them yet I am thinking I need to now.

Laurie Wishbrun gave us fabric from her Tuffed Tweets line to make curved blocks. I decided to make a Drunkard Path block. I bet you can all find the one I made in the quilt.

One of the quilts that I loved doing the block for the most was the siggy block. We were asked to make wonky maverick stars and you know how much I love them! Here is the block I made.

It looks like my block is the last block in the top row.

Needless to say this was a great experience and really fun. I am still waiting for my copy of the book but I can't wait to see it in person that will really be the icing on the cake for me! I know you will all love to read about all the fun things you can do with the online swapping community and pick up a copy of the book to find out. The publishers are offering a special discount to our readers to:

Get Sew to Swap now for just $14.99 ($10 off the retail price!). Visit the Martha Pullen Online Store and use promo code SEW2SWAP to get your exclusive discount.
{Offer expires Nov 30, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. Special Price in US Dollars, for items that are “in stock” only. Martha Pullen Company reserves the right to correct pricing errors.}

Don't forget to check out Chrissie's post about the book. It also contains the list of the Blog Hop so you can check out everyone's post. Thanks again Chrissie for this awesome experience.

Halloween & Mendocino

2011-11-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Halloween was great yesterday! Gweniveve is obsessed with The Little Mermaid (which I love since it is my favorite Disney princess) so of course her costume would be easy.

Isn't the wig awesome? My MIL got it for Gwen at DisneyWorld.

She is getting so grown up!

My Mom had made an awesome Candy Corn costume for Gwen in 2008 so we thought it would be perfect for Penelope to use it. Might as well get another use out of it, plus it is adorable.

I wanted to compare the two in the costume so the top row is Gwen and the bottom row is Penelope.

The girls and I. I was looking at my FIL since he was taking pictures to.

Well it turns out that Gwen is dying for me to make her a Mermaid quilt and has been asking for one for a couple of months now so I have decided to try to get as much of Heather Ross Mendocino fabrics as I can to make her a quilt. I am putting this out there since some of you might have some that you are will to part with and swap with me?!?!?! Pretty Please.

I only have a FQ of swimming sisters on white with aqua octopus seen here.

Thanks everyone and I hope that you had an awesome Halloween!

Scrappy iPad case

2011-10-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

After looking at all the awesome iPad cases online I had to make me one. I decided to make mine scrappy and I knew that I wanted a zipper since that seemed to me that it would be more secure and safe especially with my 2 girls always wanting to play with the iPad. After seeing this pillow I knew that I wanted to use the same fabrics for my case. Those roses from Heather Ross's line Far Far Away 2 are some of my all time favorite. Today I finally had a little time to whip this case up.

I lined it with Decor Bond and also with batting so it is cushy. I quilted it since of course I love the quilted look.

It is lined with another great print, from Erin McMorris called hopscotch it went so well with the roses.

I think I will be making alot more of these scrappy cases to sell in my Etsy shop since Christmas is coming soon and I know alot of my friends & family might like them to give away as gifts and I am in the mood to make alot more of these!

My Sewing Summit Experience!

2011-10-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Finally here is all the happened for me at the Sewing Summit! It was alot of fun but I was there to work and help Erin out but I still got time in to meet so many awesome people. It was so amazing to find out that all the people that I connected with on blogs, flickr and twitter are the same fun people in real life!

I took these pictures on my iphone with instagram since we were inside the whole time and the lighting wasn't great.

Friday was great. Once I flew in I called Erin and said I was in the lobby! She ran out to the lobby for a big hug and some tears. It had been almost a year since we had seen eachother in person. We had a little time to talk and eat and I got to meet Amy.

Once everyone got back from the shop hop I worked at the registration desk which was fun meeting people that way. Then it was time to get ready for the meet and greet! My roomie Amy and I got into our hotel room at the Little American Hotel which was so pretty and the rooms where HUGE!

I went out of my comfort zone and walked up to just about everyone I could in groups and introduce myself and get to know others since I was only there for a short time I didn't want to be mad at myself for not meeting everyone I could in person. Then it was time for Erin & Amy to raffle off prizes. The hotel had not given them a microphone so Erin asked me to shout loud and get everyone's attention and do the raffle! Well I do have to say that was really fun. I just about lost my voice too.

photo credit Jen from Betty Crocker Ass

photo credit Amy from amylouwho (my roomie)

The reception even got a little crazy! I don't know why but I always stick my tongue out it comes from my side of the family. This is Jen, Angela, Jessica & I. This just might be my favorite picture from the weekend! Thanks Jen for taking such a fun one.

photo credit Jen from Betty Crocker Ass

photo credit Jen from Betty Crocker Ass

I was really excited to meet Jeni and Amanda! We had chatted so much and we have so much fabric in common that I knew we would just have tons of fun together! All I can say is that meeting everyone is person really put the icing on the cake! Now there are voices that come out of my computer.

Me, Jeni & Erin

Amanda & I

We also got our Quilting Bee group Bee Tweet that I started over on flickr together to get a picture. We were only missing 3 people. How awesome is that?!?!?

photo credit Amy from amylouwho (my roomie)

Erin & I friends ( in real life) for over 11 years. I am so happy that Amy got this good one of us. My smile is starting to look forced at this point. So many pictures!

photo credit Amy from amylouwho (my roomie)

My roomie Amy and I. We had been talking on the phone for a long time now and it was so awesome to finally meet in real life. I just love her.

The one bad side to Sewing Summit was coming home and realizing that all the awesome people live FAR away from me and it is going to be a long time before I can meet them again. I highly recommend saving up your money to go next year. Everyone is just so nice and the classes are of course amazing and really fun.

Sew to Swap - a book

2011-10-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo! So excited to see this is finally out for everyone to see. We can finally talk about it since it is finally on Amazon to buy. I am in a book along with lots of other of my bloggy/swappy peeps!

I am excited to have my name in print since I grew up with a father who wrote and had books published. When I was asked to be a part of this book I said Yes of course. I mean who wouldn't want to be in a book, right? Anywho there will be a blog tour next month so look for more of that here. Also Nova wrote a great post about this book with all the links so I thought it would be easy to send you all over there.

My Weekender!

2011-10-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make Amy Butler's Weekender travel bag for a long time now and finally got up the courage. Everyone said how awful it was to make and what a pain it was to sew it so I was SOOO nervous. I am here to say that it was way easier then everyone made me to think. It does take a long time especially with all the cutting you have to do but it is worth it!

Here are the little changes that I made to make mine an easier process:

1. I bought pre-made cording/piping. The pre-made is from JoAnn's and is smaller then the pattern tells you to make the cording but I didn't care it eliminated me having to make it.

2. I used Decor Bond which is fusible instead of Peltex. Everyone said how hard it was to sew with the Peltex so I thought getting something that was not as thick would make my experience better. I used 2 layers of Decor Bond. Decor Bond is 40" wide so you can buy the same amount as the pattern says to buy for Peltex (which is only 20" wide).

3. I bought ShirTailor fusible Nonwoven Interfacing since I couldn't find what the pattern asked for and it worked awesome.

4. I used an 18 needle since I would be sewing with thick layers.

5. Fusible Tape! It made sewing the cording really easy.

6. I cut the handles at 4" x 56". It made the handles longer so it would go over my shoulder. Then I cut the Decor Bond for inside the handles at 1" (instead of the 7/8" as the pattern asks)

7. I bought a 30" zipper that is separating. I knew that I could hand sew the end of the zipper to keep it from separating and also with the zig zag stitch the pattern tells you to do on each end of the zipper the zipper would not separate.

8. I did not hand sew the lining inside. After the bag was all done I pinned the lining along the zipper on the inside of the bag and sewed it on along the zipper seam on the right side of the zipper (the top of the bag) so that stitching you wouldn't see since it was on the already stitched line you made when you sewed the zipper onto the bag. Hopefully that makes since here is a picture.

9. I cut 2 extra halves of the main panel out of the lining fabric and added in the shirtailer interfacing to make 2 pockets in the lining. I then sewed the pockets onto the main panel lining.

10. I added a zipper pocket to the main front pocket. I cut out an extra pocket lining and sewed an 16" zipper to the lining and the main fabric so that I have 2 pockets in one!

This makes it so you don't have to do cording on this pocket.

11. I reinforced the handles on with an X pattern to help the handles be stronger.

My interior lining is actually really nice looking with machine sewing the lining on the zipper. I was pleasantly surprised!

Needless to say have fun and make the bag your own. It really isn't that hard to make! I promise.

Even with the Decor Bond it stands on its own and has lots of strength.

Well I am ready now for The Sewing Summit and I will be having tons of fun traveling with my handmade Weekender!!!

Going to the Sewing Summit?

2011-09-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally able with the help of my husband to go to the Sewing Summit!

Who of you are going? I will be there for Friday & Saturday but I fly home around dinner time on Saturday so I won't be there for Sunday. I think I will be helping out at the registration desk on Friday. I am tall and blonde so watch out for me and say HI! I am really friendly I promise.

I will also have my Market tote that I made with me to! I might make a name tag with my name and also the blog name since so many people know you by blog names and not your real name, which if you want to know is Darci. Dar or Darc also work too :)

I am very excited to finally be able to go and support my bff Erin! Here is to 11 years of knowing eachother. I will for sure be taking some up to date pictures of the 2 of us. We tend to take pictures of the kids when we are together and not one of eachother. The ones I have of us are really old :)

Mug Rug Madness - Christmas Tree tutorial

2011-09-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Erin is hosting another round of Mug Rug Madness but this time it is with a Christmas theme. This round is sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop who has such an amazing array of quilt clubs, quilt kits & a very large selection of fat quarter bundles. My stack of fabrics are Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater which was so different for me to use since my normal is bright fabrics but I am just loving black lately. Ok so here is the tutorial that am sharing with all you based on my Christmas pillow I made for my sister years ago.

Supplies Needed-

Fabric strip for the tree:
1"x 2"
Selvage from fabric (an little something extra but not needed)
.75"x 2.5"
3.5" x 1.5"
3"x 1"

Trunk:
1" x 1.5"

Background fabric:
5" x 9"

Fusible Wonder under or any kind of fusible webbing.

1. To start cut out all of your strips for the tree along with the strips of fusible web to go along with each tree strip. I just cut out the fabric then lay it on the fusible webbing and then cut it out that way.

2. Trace a star on a piece of paper for the top of the tree.

3. Cut the star out.

4. Pin the star of the fabric you are using for the star and cut out. Place the fabric star on the fusible webbing and either trace around the star with pencil and cut out or just cut out around the star with scissors.

5. Now you have everything cut out. Lay everything out on the background fabric in the order that you want.

6. Start at the trunk of the tree and place the Fusible web on the wrong side of the fabric and iron it in place. Continue to do this moving from the bottom to the top of the tree until it is all ironed on. I place the star a little on the top strip so it overlaps. Now it should look something like this.

7. Next I get the batting and backing fabric and lay them together and pin it a couple of times to help hold it in place.

8. Then I start quilting the strips. Quilt around each of them so that there is a little fabric hanging loose so that when you wash this mug rug it will get a little ragged.

9. Once you are done with that just trim off the access fabric and batting and you are ready to bind your mug rug.

Now you have an awesome Christmas Tree mug rug. Don't forget that when you wash it the ends get ragged and just helps with the Christmas tree look!

Don't forget to go over to Two More Seconds and enter the giveaway to win one of the Mug Rugs or fabric prizes!

Ukulele Market bag

2011-09-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I finally made the Jane Market Bag for Amber aka One Shabby Chick. I used fusible Decor Bond so the bag will stand on it's own and has more weight to it and I also make the straps 6" longer than the pattern tells you to make them.

I had asked Amber if she wanted to do our own little swap since I really wanted one of her word pillows, remember? Well I finished it up the other day and mailed it today so Amber should have it in a couple of days. Lucky for her Penelope didn't keep it, she wanted to.

On another note I signed up for the 6th round of The Pillow Talk swap, I still have not missed a round yet! This is the mosaic that I made to help my partner out.

I really need a pillow for my tv room since I have only been able to sew a couple of them for the couches and I want more. I really want some red in the pillow since that is the stand out color in the tv room but I do love scrappy. Squares, spiderwebs, wonky maverick stars are some of my favorites. I am loving a little bit on the text black & white prints that are out there now as long as it is a small amount. My house does have alot of black in it. I love quilted pillows, pillows with binding and I do think zippers are the best way to go since it keep the pillow form nice and snug. I am just putting this out there please don't feel that you have to do these things to me pillows are the best!!! I will love just about anything :)

Also the green & grey picture in the mosaic I added since my living room can totally use a pillow there too and that room is mainly green with some black & white so a white solid or grey would be great along with the green.

Also if you want another option my sewing room has a bed and can always use colorful pillows. Anything would go in this room.

I hope that little bit helps out my partner! I am excited to start stalking my partner and making something that they will love.

Pillows for the TV room

2011-08-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard to make pillows for the tv room. When we moved into this house in February we changed our colors in the tv room so I have been needing all new pillows. Red is the most prominent color since those are the colors of the drapes along with gold, green with maybe some orange.

Choosing the fabrics is one of the best yet frustrating parts of the sewing process to me. Luckily I thought I had some good stacks. This is the first one I pulled together. It is new for me to use black prints but I am really liking them, when used sparingly.

I loved this pillow so I thought I would use Amanda's tutorial to make me one. This pillow is 20"x 20" and I call it my Red Arrow pillow. It really looks great with the 2 pillows that I bought at Target. I just LOVE the flower one soooo much from Target.

Some more black I used. I do have tons of black in my house. Most of my furniture is black so I do love it.

Next up was making a half square triangle pillow using my go! baby cutter to cut them all for me it helped tons! I am just not the skilled when it comes to HST so I was glad to have the go! baby even though it doesn't cut perfectly (alot of times I have to cut strings) but it is better than me doing it.

This one ended up being 19"x 19" which was nice since I stuffed it with my Ikea down pillow form that I got for almost $7 (thanks Erin for telling me about them) which is 20x20.I love the stuffed look of the pillows.

Then I made the little 12"x 12" chevron pillow using Premier Prints home dec fabric. This is my husband and my favorite size pillow along with a larger one to lay on and watch tv on the couch. I also bought the chevron fabric in yellow to make another pillow for the couch but the fabric came with tons of flaws so I am waiting on another shipment of the fabric before I make another one.

All the pillows won't always be on this one couch but for photography reasons it seemed like a great idea. I am loving the way the tv room is coming together with all the fun colors. I am just wanting to make another small pillow once I get it in the mail and maybe one more large pillow so each couch will have 2 or more of the large ones.

Winner of the Go! baby

2011-08-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Vanesa said...

It's so nice to see all the cool uses for these, hope I win!

I have emailed Vanesa and just waiting to get her information. Thanks everyone for entering.

An inside joke pillow

2011-08-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

So one of my amazing flickr/blog friends Amber made this awesome word pillow for Erin I emailed her to see if she would be up for a little swap between us. I wanted one of those pillows! My husband and I have had this inside joke for these past 11 years of marriage (crazy how time flies) and I knew it would be perfect for Amber's word pillows.

Doesn't it go awesome with the pillow I made to go on my bed once I ever finish my new bed quilt? Well these 2 pillows, for now, are on my living room couch but they will be moved onto my bed once the new quilt is completed.

I am making Amber a Jane Market bag since that is what she wanted. I have had a little set back and have not been sewing so hopefully I will get to feeling better and make her bag ASAP!!! Being late with things is one of my biggest pet peeves so I HATE it when I am the one late. I should have waited to share this pillow until I made the bag and posted them together but I had to share the pillow today. IT sure boosted my spirits today so I wanted to share that you with you all.

p.s. The go! baby cutter giveaway is still open here it is don't forget to enter!