A Couple More Hours

My {mis}adventures with paper piecing

2013-05-17T15:15:00.002-04:00

La-de-da, doesn't that pillow look so cute?! Yes, it IS very cute. But man alive! It was one of the MOST DIFFICULT projects I have ever attempted!

I'm learning how to quilt, right, and I keep coming across all of these wonderful new quilt blocks that I want to try. I had said before that I hadn't yet met a quilt block I didn't like. WELL I DON'T LIKE PAPER PIECING! Paper piecing is a type of quilting where you use actual paper as a pattern, and you sew directly onto the paper, with the fabric underneath, and then when you're all done you rip away the paper. It seemed kinda easy. Or so I thought.

I used a light box to help line up the pieces. It's way too hard to see in this photo, but basically you build up the quilt block by aligning the pieces on the bottom of the paper with the right side facing up and after you sew on the lines you iron the fabric back so it creates the design, then you cut off the access. See? Told you, mind melting.

My inspiration to try paper piecing was a tutorial I came across on the Chasing Cottons blog - you can find it here if you're so inclined to try paper piecing, aka melting your brain in half. The pattern is called Circle of Geese. The triangles are the 'geese.'

I picked out fabrics that looked quite similar to the inspiration piece and in the end my piece did come out exactly how it was supposed to. Getting to that point was beyond frustrating.

The completed block takes four circle of geese blocks. I was all finished with my blocks and then I discovered that I had accidentally flipped two pieces. Where I'm pointing and the piece to the left of it is flipped. Grrrrrr. I also discovered that I had a gap in one of the other pieces, so that piece had to be redone because when it was sewn together there would have been a hole.

What is most difficult about paper piecing is that because you are building the piece from the back, you are essentially lining it up the opposite way it is supposed to go, then flipping it over. You have to make sure that your fabric piece is big enough to fit the entire pattern section that you're creating. Many times my pieces were not big enough, so I had to start completely over. I said many curse words.

And the trash! I made so much trash with this project! Seriously! So much waste because I had to keep starting over. Gasaagbarnrabdlgnbgrlajg!!! expletive expletive curse word cuss cuss!

In the end, it all came out perfectly. After a multitude of attempts, my blocks were exact. I made it into a pillow for my Mom for Mother's Day. I should mention that I {stupidly} began this project at 8 p.m. the day before Mother's Day. After many hours of work I didn't finish it in time to give it to her on Mother's Day but she got it three days later and of course she loved it.

I'm happy with the end result - I think the pattern is pretty cool. But I will NOT be attempting paper piecing again any time soon. I think the only way I'd attempt it again is if I had a block of five hours where I had zero distractions and zero deadlines and I could concentrate completely and fully. This is the type of project that requires 200% concentration. I had to literally think through every.single.little.action with this project.

I'm going to stick with the traditional block-making way of making quilts! {And of course I'm sticking with making my hexagon pieces too, because those are a different and oh so simple method of paper piecing. It's not even in the same category because it's happy and simple and serene and I do not say expletives when I'm working with my hexagons!!}

Review: tie dye kit!

2013-05-14T14:55:00.002-04:00

Arlene with her awesome tie dye tote bag!

I was asked by JoAnn Fabrics to review a project out of their new summer crafts catalog called Cape Discovery. I picked a tie-dye kit project because it's been years since I did tie-dye! I remember doing tie-dye at summer camp; dipping a shirt into a big huge bucket of dyed water. Well, it's all a lot more simple now!

I was inspired by the tie-dye tote project featured on page 9 of the Cape Discovery catalog - go here to see the entire catalog, which includes 72 projects!!

I purchased three items for this project: the tie dye kit, the tote bag and iron-on letters.

We followed the instructions from JoAnns.com (available here!) and referred to the instructions on the tie dye kit, too. First we rolled up the tote bag, then put rubber bands around it at about two-inch intervals.

This tie dye kit was simple! The powered dye is already in the tubes, you just add water and mix it up!

Then you squirt the dye right onto the fabric.

We had to rub it in a little to get it to penetrate the fabric. But .....

Yiiiikes! Dyed purple fingers! The kit comes with plastic gloves but somehow my daughter Arlene's gloves got ripped while she was working with the dye, so she had purple fingertips. We washed the dye off the best we could and she walked around for half a day with purple fingers. By the next day the dye had worn off though, phew! If I were to do this project again, I'd have her use heavy-duty gloves so her fingers stay dye-free.

Once the tote bag was all covered in dye, we wrapped it up in plastic wrap and let it sit for eight hours, per the package instructions. Then we rinsed it off in the sink and washed and dried it. Then, I added her initials to the top by ironing on the pink letters.

You can sign up to stay connected with JoAnn.com and get a 20% off coupon! Go here to sign up.

Add caption

If you want some more inspiration for summer-themed projects, go to JoAnns.com! What's cool is most of the 72 projects are kid-friendly!

If you do one of the projects, please let me know! And! Post it on your blog and on Pinterest with the hastag #summerofjoann! You can see some other cute projects here!

Sneak peek: new projects

2013-05-09T11:25:00.003-04:00

I can't keep a secret very well, especially when I'm super excited about it!

I was asked by a big huge craft/fabric store to create tutorials using a new product. I said 'SURE THING MAN!' Actually I was more professional in my response, but I was saying "EEEEEEE!" in my head.

I created the projects and now I have to wait to share the details! The projects and the tutorials are going to be on said big huge craft/fabric store's web site hopefully by the end of this month. Once they are live on their site I will share the details and the tutorials here on this blog too. Exciting stuff!

Rhubarb Pie recipe: the best ever

2013-05-06T16:43:00.004-04:00

Rhubarb pie is the only pie I like, so I decided this year that I wanted to make LOTS of pies while rhubarb is in season. I set out to find the best recipe and ended up creating my own. I tried my mom's recipe, her tried and true recipe that I have always really liked, but decided I wanted a bit different of a taste for my pie. I basically combined five recipes into one. It's perfect for me. I hope it's perfect for you, too. I have to share it with you, for the good of the world. It's that delicious.

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

And here are some glories pie photos. I wish this blog had smell-o-vision.

I use fresh rhubarb.

I sprinkle sanding sugar on the top.

I use a teeny star cutout on the top crust.

I mean seriously. That's pie perfection right there!

Mmmmmm!

Let me know if you make this recipe and tell me what you think!

Knee patch tutorial

2013-05-02T16:39:00.000-04:00

My kids seem to put rips and tears in their jeans quite frequently this time of year, as they're playing outside more, running all around, and tumbling off their scooters and bikes. We had a recent incident where THREE pairs of jeans developed knee holes at once, practically all overnight. I didn't want to get rid of the jeans because they were relatively new. So I patched them up!

I created a photo tutorial in case you had some jeans that needed mending as well and wanted a quick and easy way to do it.

Click on any of the photos to make them larger OR there is a printable PDF available at the end of this post!

{Click on this link to learn how to do a hand applique stitch.}

Kid tested, kid approved!

Click below to get a printable PDF version of this tutorial!

Jeans Patch Tutorial

Cross-stitched wooden letter P

2013-05-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

When I was done putting up my fabulous photo wall in my parlor, I realized I wanted to add something to it, to the top, as illustrated here:

I decided I wanted to put a letter P up there, for our last name. Around that same time I was cruising Etsy and found this listing:

That ultra-talented artists cross-stitches wood! HOW COOL! Go visit her shop here.

So, I asked my handy dandy father to create a wood P for me that I could cross stitch. It came out just as I imagined!

Here it is all cross-stitched up and hung on the wall. I used a big needle and regular yarn for the cross stitch. Isn't is fab?!

Now that space is filled in and I'm in love with my photo wall all over again!

Well that's nifty (bragging moment)

2013-04-29T10:42:00.001-04:00

Allow me just a moment here to brag a little, ok? So, I was asked my JoAnns to demo their new HGTV fabric line and I posted last week about the quilted table centerpiece that I made.

Well! My project was posted on the JoAnns's Pinterest Board! Upon seeing it I squealed with delight.

You can see the other projects here and if you'd like, follow JoAnn's Pinterest boards here.

OK, enough bragging, carry on!

But wait! The HGTV Fabric sale ends this coming Saturday! The line is 50% off right now, plus you can combine that sale with the 10% off coupon I had in my blog post. Yay!

Lilac Festival = major anticipation and excitement

2013-04-26T10:44:00.001-04:00

screen image of festival web site

We're going on a camping vacation to northern Michigan in June and I learned yesterday that it coincides with Mackinaw Island's Lilac Festival and I cannot tell you how excited I am about that! I've always wanted to go to the Lilac Festival and this year I get to go, yaaaaaaaaay!!!

The web site for the festival is really nice - check it out here. It needs smell-o-vision for sure. I'm ready for my olfactory senses to be inundated with the glorious scents of lilacs! I was excited about our vacation but now I'm super duper excited!

Review: the new HGTV fabrics + a coupon!

2013-04-24T09:30:00.000-04:00

I am delighted to share with you some new fabric! Check this out, Jo-Anns now carries HGTV's new line of home decorator fabrics! These fabrics are fab! And! I have a coupon to share! It's at the bottom of this post, so keep reading.

I was sent a lovely package from HGTV and Jo-Anns - I got one yard each of the new fabric and a yard of ribbon plus a copy of the HGTV Magazine. The fabric I got is called Poppy Power (the flower one) and Boxed In.

I wanted to make a quilted table top centerpiece and at first I wasn't sure if the decor-weight fabrics would work well. Decor weight fabrics are heavier than the usual cotton prints. Let me tell you this: these fabrics were so nice to work with! They are sturdier and more tightly woven. I didn't have any trouble at all using them to piece together the quilt block.

I decided to do a Dresden plate block and I got my pattern from the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. You can see it here.

It measures 16.5 inches square. The Dresden plate is zig-zag stitched onto a piece of loose-weave linen. The decor-weight fabric ironed nicely too while I was working with it- crisp folds and hardly any fraying, which was awesome.

I made my binding out of the decor fabric too. I quilted straight lines on the linen from each of the Dresden plate points, radiating out toward the edges.

I really love it a lot.

Jo-Anns is the only store that carries the new HGTV fabric. Each store has an assortment of 30 fabrics and even more are available at JoAnns.com.

AND! Until May 7 all HGTV home decor fabrics and trims are 50 percent off! AND AND! I have a coupon for you that takes an additional 10 percent off, so your fabric would be a whopping 60 percent off! Go to JoAnns and buy some right now!

click and print!

Testing my green thumb

2013-04-23T09:30:00.000-04:00

I have had a tough time keeping plants alive in a little planter I have in my entryway. I wrote a post last year about how I killed every plant in there. Whoops. I am an over-waterer. I admit it. But I'm trying to be better!

I missed having greenery in that planter so I decided to try again. I vow to try really hard not to kill these plants. I bought succulents and cacti and fresh potting soil. I've only watered them once in the past two weeks and they seem to be pretty happy.

Yes, that's a porcelain doll head in the planter. Because I'm weird like that.

Here's hoping I keep these things alive! Cross your fingers!

Super productive weekend

2013-04-22T12:03:00.000-04:00

I set out to have a super productive weekend and I did it! I got a bunch of stuff done. Yay!

I made a yarn-wrapped wreath, I made skirts for the girls, I made a pie, I made a Dresden-plate mini quilt and I made four Kindle cases for my husband's classroom. Phhhhew! Lots of sewing. Lots of crafting. Lots of happy.

I will write more about the skirts {I'll do a tutorial!} and about the Dresden mini quilt. Stay tuned!

What did YOU do this weekend?

DIY Instagram display

2013-04-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

Since I take so many photos on Instagram I decided that I needed a nifty place to display them. When I was at a vintage show a couple weeks ago I found a metal try and knew it'd be perfect! I have no idea what the tray was in its former life, but in its new life it's a lovely backdrop for my new DIY Instagram Display!

Making this was super easy! I printed the photos right from my phone from the Walgreens app.

I strung up the photos on twine using mini clothespins decorated with washi tape. I hung up a few other thing I had, like the P (which is from a marquee sign), the heart board game piece and a Foxy playing card.

I love being able to give the pictures a second life. They're no longer stuck in my phone! I plan to switch out the photos as times goes on.

I hung the display in our half bath which is our most-often used bathroom. I figure our guests can look at the pics while they're doing their business!

My gnome plates

2013-04-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

I've got a thing for gnomes. I find them to be rather cute. And they remind me of spring. I guess I figure gnomes help around the garden, in the springtime? I don't know. Annnnnyway, I found a set of seven gnome plates at my local antique mall and bought them to display on my shelf in my dining room.{remember my dining room shelf? the one that my dad installed before Halloween last year? here's a post about it.}

These plates are pretty awesome and they're going to stay up on my shelf most of the year.

The plates are from the book Gnomes published by Harry Abrams and are illustrated by Rien Poortvliet. Each of the plates is numbered. I got all seven for $60 which is a pretty decent deal.

Click on the image to enlarge!

Cute, right?

Handprinted fabric swap: what I received

2013-04-17T09:30:00.000-04:00

I participated in the Handprinted Fabric Swap and wanted to share the fabric that I received from my swap partners!

These cheery lemons are from Susan. Aren't they lovely?

This fabric is from Ella. The yellow dots and crosses are printed on pale lavender fabric.

These bold designs printed on blue fabric are from Helen. The typewriter is my favorite!

This one is from Jennifer. I used a bit of this fabric already as the backing fabric for a house pillow from my Etsy shop ~ but I didn't get a photo of it before I put it in the mail, doh!

And mine - screen printed buttons!

I am starting a hexagon quilt

2013-04-15T13:34:00.002-04:00

I was cruising Pinterest for quilt ideas and came across HEXAGONS and there's been no looking back. I've become obsessed with hexagons.

I absolutely love this quilt:

Image credit - from Pinterest

Here's a close up:

Image credit - from Pinterest

I decided that's what I wanted to make, but a bit smaller. It's called Grandma's Garden.

So, I set about finding tutorials online about how to make hexagons. Oh, so easy! Oh, so ADDICTIVE!

{If you're interested in learning, go to The Rikrak Studio blog ~ it has a super extensive tutorial/resource post about Hexagon Quilting.} I do the English paper-piecing method. My hexagons are 2 inches and I make them by first cutting fabric into 2 and a half inch squares. I use card stock for the paper pieces.

This is my first completed block. It doesn't take me that long to do the individual hexagons but it does take me a bit of time to sew them all together.

Not fully knowing what I was getting myself in to, I decided to plan out my quilt by first drawing it so I knew how many of each color to make:

I had the idea to make a KING SIZE QUILT out of hexagons. Yeah, great idea! NOT! That would take years and years because hexagons quilts are ENTIRELY HAND SEWN!

Once I got my wits about me, I decided instead to make a wall hanging. That size is much more manageable and might only take me one year instead of seven million to complete.

Still, my wall hanging quilt will have 27 blocks {like the one pictured above} ... and it will comprise 966 individual hexagons! I'm using random cotton fabric scraps for the center flowers of each. I'm using Kona cotton in white and bright green for the outer rings.

One individual hexagon.

Some people sew through the front when baste-stitching their hexagons. I don't do that; I just sew the back.

Here's the back of my block. I had started to remove the red basting stitches already from a few of the white blocks. You leave the paper pieces in the hexagons until all six sides have been sewn. So all of the pieces except for the green hexagons have the pieces removed. I read online while doing my research into hexagon quilts that back in the day pioneer women used to leave the paper pieces in the quilts to give it more stability and warmth. The quilts rustled and were crinkly.

So, I have one block of 27 done. 26 more to go. And eventually, the quilt will hang here, in my dining room on my quilt rod. I think it'll bring some nice pops of color to the room. IF/WHEN it is finished!

For now, I'm loving this process. I sit down in the evenings after my homework/baths/hair combing/lunch packing/mommy duties are done and get to work while the TV is on. Now that it's baseball season my husband and I usually watch the games and I can sew but not be totally distracted by the TV.

I am sure I'll get sick of hexagons eventually.

I'm loving how portable they are!

I found a cool box thingie that I used to store my Barbies in when I was younger. In fact I had to empty out a bunch of Barbie stuff when I found this box, the girls were excited to get some new clothes for Barbie! My mom gave it to me years ago - it was a cosmetics/bathroom case. It looks dirty but it's not, those stains are old and completely set in. Adds to the charm!

I've got all of my hexagon-making loot in there. Fabric cut into squares, extra card stock hexagons, needles, thread and scissors. When we take camping trips this summer I plan to take my hexagons with me.

If you're wanting to get into hexagons {and I fully encourage it!} I created a couple of printables that might help you to get started.

2inch_hexy_sheet

I created this sheet of 2 inch hexagons. Cut out each one right on the lines. You can re-use the hexagon pieces once you take them out of your quilt. However, I wanted to be able to make a bunch and sew them together in batches. So I spent three hours one evening cutting out 400 hexagons!

image credit

{Click on "image credit" to download it}

This is the sheet I used to plan out my hexagon, if you'd like to use it to plan out your own quilt.

Let me know if you've made, or if you plan to make, a hexagon quilt!

I plan to document my progress so stay tuned!

Darn you JT!

2013-04-11T10:36:00.005-04:00

Music is a big part of my life but I'm pretty particular about the type of music I like. You may say I'm a musical snob, and I'm okay with that, because I kinda am. I don't care for most popular music, I tend to like the indies and the almost un-knowns. I also tend to listen to albums on repeat when they are new to me. When Radiohead front-man Thom Yorke's new album with his new side project, called Atoms for Peace, came out I listened to that album for a week straight. When Hayden's new album, Us Alone, came out, I listened to that for two weeks straight. Every morning on my 35-minute drive on the way to work, every afternoon on my way home.

While I like my standards, my Radiohead, my Spoon, my St. Vincent, my Hayden, my Cat Power and et cetera, et cetera, sometimes I do stray, and I get into pop music. That has happened with Justin Timberlake's new album, the 20/20 Experience, and gosh DARNIT, I love it. I love that stupid album. I love every stupid song! Have you heard it? You must. Give it a listen or three ... by the third time you'll be hooked.

Here's Suit and Tie:

I don't like the rappy part toward the end but the rest is so catchy!

JT has SEEPED INTO MY BRAIN! I stopped listening to the album because I kept humming the tunes. I wanted to get it out of my head because I didn't want to like it as much as I do. But that hasn't stopped it. It's still in my head.

My all-time favorite song from the album is Don't Hold the Wall. You need to listen to it. There isn't an official video of it but I found this one on YouTube of just the song:

This song is stuck deep into the subconscious of my brain. I found myself this morning, brushing my teeth and humming "DANCE. Get off the wall, just DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, get off the wall" and I'm doing a little jig. OMG. Who AM IT?! Before I go to sleep at night, the songs are replaying in my head. WHY?!

Oh JT. He does a stellar job when he hosts Saturday Night Live. Did you see him host a couple weeks ago? It was hilarious. Speaking of which, I laugh out loud at his Spaceship Coupe song, because it reminds me too much of a Saturday Night Live parody. JT is signing about a space lover machine. A space lover machine. It makes NO SENSE! Yet, that damn song is stuck in my head now.

"Hop into my spaceship coupe. There's only room for two. And with the top down, we'll cruise around land and make love on the moon. Would you like that?"

OMG that's so STUPID! STUPID! Yet? Catchy!!! STUCK IN MY HEAD!!!!!

Gaaaaaaah. Darn you JT, darn you all the way to the moon in your stupid space lover cocoon.

A special wonky star zippy pouch

2013-04-08T09:30:00.000-04:00

My bestest bestest pal Amber was visiting this past weekend. Her birthday is coming up so I wanted to make her something special. I found the coolest coloring book - and it sounds weird calling it a coloring book - it's more like an adult design book. Yeah, that sounds better. The book is called Secret Garden {you can get it here on Amazon.} It's got delicate little line drawings in it. Amber likes to color {who doesn't?!} so when I found the book for her I knew I had to make her a pencil case to accompany it.

This was the last project I made with my wonky sewing machine before I sent it off to the repair shop. I figured a wonky project would be good to do since my sewing machine was sewing wonky. It worked out great! I love the wonky star blocks ... it's so random how they turn out.

I sewed two buttons on either side of the zipper pull, giving it more pull strength.

It was an accident how the pinwheel background fabric alllllmost lines up. I love happy accidents!

I don't use a zipper foot on my sewing machine because I can't find the one that came with my machine. I don't struggle too badly with using my regular foot, but I do struggle. I'm going to have to buy a new zipper foot to make my life easier. I kind of want to make twenty more of these zipper pouches. They make up pretty quickly and you can never have too many zipper pouches! Maybe everyone will get zippy pouches for Christmas this year!

Give-a-way winners announced!

2013-04-05T09:30:00.000-04:00

Did you win?! Let's see!

There were 15 entries in my give-a-way contest!

1. Kristin

2. Katie

3. Sarah

4. thelittlereddoor

5. Emma

6. thecorbettkid

7. Kim

8. Kat

9. Mel

10. Indianna

11. Rachel

12. Reecea

13. Mary Moon Designs

14. Elita

15. Ashley

I put 15 into random.org three different times ....

The first time, it came up with ...

Number 8, which was Kat! Kat said she'd like Miss Moon, so that's who she gets! Yay!

Next, I put 15 into the random generator again ... and came up with ...

Number 9, which was Mel! Yay Mel! She said she'd like Mary May!

Finally the random generator came up with ....

Number 12! Reecea! Congrats! She's getting Miss Missy!

Congrats to all of the winners! I have emailed you and requested your mailing address.

If you didn't win, don't despair, I do give-a-ways quite frequently! Maybe you'll win next time!

My screen printed button fabric

2013-04-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

I'm so incredibly pleased with how my screen printed fabric turned out. Isn't it lovely? I printed up five fat quarters and mailed it off to four people in my Handprinted Fabric swap, and saved one or my bestest pal Amber.

I posted last week about having the screen printing blues because my prints weren't turning out how I wanted them to. I had teeny tiny buttons in my design that weren't printing right. Well I just scotch-taped over them to cover them up and wa-la, they didn't print at all, and I actually like the extra empty space!

I printed the design onto gray 100% cotton plus I made one on 100% purple cotton.

I've wanted to screen print for awhile and even though I had a bumpy start, I figured it out and I love the end result. I'm going to make more fabric and have a few more screen printed projects up my sleeve!

Covert Robin gifts sent and received!

2013-04-03T15:46:00.003-04:00

I participated in the Covert Robin handmade gift exchange {read all about it here!}!

I mailed off my gift yesterday to my gal. I made her a pillow!

This gift is actually a two-fer! I'm participating in Canoe Ridge Creation's Fresh Mini Quilt Club ~ it's a quilt-pattern-a-month club for six months. The pattern I used was the March 2013 pattern. You can read more about the Fresh Mini Quilt Club here. Anyway, I wanted to make March's quilt block, so I decided to turn it into a pillow for my gift recipient! She likes owls - I found that super cute owl print at JoAnns. I paired it up with bright cheery fabrics. I don't usually pick such bright prints but I think it all goes well together.

I bought a pillow form for the innards of the pillow - super easy! I made the pillow cover by sewing it together using a simple envelope style.

I used this tutorial for making the envelope pillow - which was super easy to follow and I highly recommend it!

I am in love with the pillow! I almost didn't want to give it up! My machine is in the repair shop right now; when it comes back I want to make a pillow for my porch rocking chair! The quilt pattern was quick and easy to make.

AND! Today I got my gift! YAAAAAY!

I got the prettiest, most well made mini quilt ever! I looooove it! My gift giver {she has a blog!} said she wanted to incorporate stars into my gift after seeing stars in the pictures of my home.

She hit a home run for sure. I absolutely LOVE IT! I put it on my table right away.

This swap was seriously so much fun! I will be participating in the next Covert Robin for sure.

Doll give-a-way!

2013-04-01T09:30:00.000-04:00

Hey hey hey I'm doing a give-a-way! You can win one of these three dolls!

I bought a yard and a half of this most adorable doll fabric and have been hand stitching little details onto the doll's faces and bodies, after getting the idea from Rachel of Sewn Studio - check out her tutorial post here. The fabric is from designer Suzy Ultman - check out her web site here and her Etsy shop.

I made a LOT of dolls!

The girls and I picked out our favorites, gave one to Grandma as a gift, and were left with three especially for YOU!

Here's how you can win one!

Just leave a comment on this post!

Make sure I have your name and email address.

In your comment, tell me which doll you'd prefer!

Here are their names:

Just leave a comment and you'll be entered into the give-a-way!

I will pick THREE winners at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 4 and will announce the winners Friday, April 5.

Yay! Fun! I love doing give-a-ways!

The dolls have coordinating fabric on the back side and are stuffed plump:

My first quilt, completed

2013-03-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

As I exclaimed last week, I made a quilt! Yay! The quilt was a gift so I didn't want to share pictures until it was received. The recipients got it a couple days ago - so here are some pictures! I am very pleased with how it turned out!

The completed size of the quilt is slightly smaller than a regular size baby quilt. It measures about 36" by 42" (the typical baby size quilt is 36" by 54") and has a lightweight batting in the middle.

Aren't those fabrics fab? The baby boy I made this quilt for has a woodland themed nursery.

I used the internet as my inspiration and guide when making this quilt. I used this chevron tutorial and this binding tutorial.

I thoroughly enjoyed making the binding! I don't know what it is about binding, but it's my favorite part!

The quilt backing is the same orange gingham from the front (the binding was made out of it too.) I quilted it by running straight stitches diagonally. They ended up not equidistant from one another - not on purpose but on happy accident. I like the uneven look.

So, what did I learn?

For starters, I have always wanted to make a quilt, always, always, and just never did it. I'm so happy I started out small, because I was able to adjust as needed and make it work. I was totally winging it when purchasing the fabrics - I didn't know at the time I bought them what type of quilt I was going to make, I just knew I wanted the fabrics. I ended up going back to the fabric store to buy an extra yard for the backing. Thankfully it was still in stock!

Secondly, my machine is wonky! I am taking it in for a repair, because I realized when I was making this quilt that it does not sew straight. I think the feed dogs are off kilter. The fabric pulls to the left instead of staying straight. I had to fight with the machine to sew straight. Because my lines weren't exactly straight, some of my points don't line up. I'm a perfectionist so that makes me insane, but, I keep reminding myself that handmade isn't perfect.

Third, never use a blue pencil to mark your quilting lines! I marked my straight lines on the quilt top with a blue water soluble pencil. The blue pencil smeared a little when I was sewing, and when I was all done quilting it I realized that I was going to have a tough time getting it out. I tried spraying the lines with water and rubbing them out with a q-tip, but that didn't work. I put it in the washing machine without soap on a cold cycle then dried it on air dry. The lines were still there! So I washed it again, this time with soap, and dried it on a low temp setting, and they finally came out. I'm never using a blue pencil again! I was in such a panic that I had ruined the quilt. I'm so glad the lines ended up coming out.

Fourth, now that I made this quilt, I'm HOOKED! I can't wait to make another quilt, and my next one will be bigger. I have grand plans to make a king-size quilt for our bed, but I plan wait until I have more experience.

I made baby a little plush fox too. I had made a fox for Lydia a couple years ago - I carved the design in a linoleum block and stamped it onto white fabric.

Foxy! Lydia's fox has button eyes - I embroidered this little fox's eyes closed - I love the look! So cute!

I've got the printing blues

2013-03-26T11:09:00.001-04:00

Whoah whoah I've got the screen printing blues.

I get a crafty idea in my head and I go for it and it usually works, it sometimes doesn't, sometimes it's a challenge. My grand idea is to get into screen printing. I had done well with block printing {I made some cute stuff, as evidenced here} ... buuuuut, I kinda got tired of how difficult it was to get a solid clear print with the linocut blocks. So, I decided screen printing would be my new thing. I got books from the library, I watched tutorials online, I asked questions. So far? Difficulties! Such difficulties! But I will not give up!

I'm taking part in the Handprinted: Fabric swap challenge {wherein I make four quarter yards of fabric to send to people}and I'm actually late in sending out my fabric because this weekend I had a major printing failure. The fabrics were supposed to be mailed out yesterday. Mine won't go out until next Monday. Whomp whomp.

I thought screen printing would be easier than block printing. Not so much. I had to have a screen made for me, and that process was all fine and dandy, but once I started actually printing, I noticed a huge mistake.

My little buttons in my design just aren't printing. They are too fine and teeny tiny so the ink won't go through the screen to print them. Major bummer. I was going to have a new screen made but decided instead to just block off the tiny buttons and try printing that way. I haven't actually tried it yet though. Fingers crossed it works.

I'm not going to give up on screen printing just yet. I like how it looks when it works and I think I can make it work. Let's hope!

Loving on BlogLovin

2013-03-22T08:34:00.002-04:00

With all of the recent chatter about how Google Reader is closing shop, I decided to investigate a blog reader. You see, I had NEVER used a blog reader before. I had always just listed my favorite blogs in a sidebar along this blog. WOW. I was missing out! I discovered BlogLovin and fell in LOV.

Do you use BlogLovin? It's super easy! Why had I never used a blog reader before?! I'm a big fan.

Anywho, you can keep up with this blog via BlogLovin (or any reader you choose, if you use a reader). Other ways to stay in touch! I'm on Instagram and Pinterest. Let's be fwends!

I am making a quilt

2013-03-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

For years and years I've admired quilts. I adore fabric and have sewn lots of things over the years. I love quilts, the look of quilts, the feeling of quilts, the aesthetic of quilts. Quilts! I've always wanted to make a quilt, I just never have. Until now!

I finally did! I MADE A QUILT!

{It's a gift so I can't show you too much yet. Here are some teaser pics!}

I bought this super duper pretty variegated thread. It's so pretty.

I learned so much making this quilt. I worked loosely off a pattern I found online. I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials and read about tips and tricks on blogs and asked quilters I 'know' online for their advice.

I made a few mistakes, but I'm okay with them. Not all of my lines are straight, not all of my points line up, but for a first timer, I'd say it's pretty decent. And bonus? Some of my mistakes can't be seen, especially my messy seams on the underside of the quilt. Exhibit A:

All of my seams were supposed to be going the same direction. Some got wonky. Oh well!

And binding! I had no clue binding was such a blast. Seriously. I loved making the binding and hand sewing the binding to the quilt. It was my favorite part.

I am allllmost done with the quilt. I need to finish the binding, then, I need to wash off the quilting marks I put on the top. I used a blue water soluble pencil! That was a rookie mistake. I learned after the fact to NOT use that type of pencil. I'm crossing my fingers the marks come out. If they don't come out I will cry rivers of tears.

Once the gift recipient receives the quilt I'll share detailed pictures of it! I will honestly be sad to see it go, I've enjoyed it so much! That just means I need to make another quilt or 20!