Some crafting catch up

I have done a little crafting lately, both sewing and paper crafting. Now that my home is more livable, I feel okay spending more time on my hobbies.

I have been using Instagram a lot to share project I have been working on. I forget to post things on Flickr these days.

December:

I wanted to make a gift for my fabulous Grandma for Christmas. I thought the Open Wide zipper bag from Noodlehead would be perfect since she travels a lot. She also likes southwest stuff and I had some fabric I bought a while back that was just right.



Then I could not find my toiletry bag when I was packing so I took a moment (ha!) and made one for myself, in a larger size. I love it!

While in Utah, I made a port pillow. My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in November. He was getting chemo and radiation in December and had a port* in his chest. They can be very uncomfortable, especially when wearing a seat belt. My dad apparently frequently removed his seat belt when going to his appointments because of this. I found a couple of tutorials (here and here) for port pillows and made him one (as well as a couple more to donate to the chemo center). He used it while I was there and told me it helped.
These are made with charm squares and finish up about 4 1/2" x 4 1/2".



I also finished the baby quilt that our Young Women had tied for a baby in our ward. I had made the top a while ago. I donated it to the group along with binding. They tied it at church one Sunday during their lesson. Then I brought it to my mom's during Christmas break to trim and bind it.

 



 January:
More cord wraps. Some really big ones for extension cords and some regular ones for regular cords and a couple of short ones for my earbuds and charging cords.


February:
 Valentines!
I have been following a Stampin' Up! gal on YouTube, Wendy Cranford and she made a really cute little candy bar pocket for a valentine. I made one like hers which was not great, and then went my own way a bit with them color-wise.


Blue for my boys.

 
Pink for my girls, some teachers and the gals I Visit Teach.

 And throughout January and February I have been alternating quilting on the robot baby quilt and piecing this Trip Around the World quilt I started at a historical textiles class given by Leah Zieber at Fat Quarters Quilt Shop. I used fabrics from a fat quarter stack I had of Tidbits by Kari Ramsay for Henry Glass.  It was really hard to do the strips. I could not keep them straight, even using my walking foot and marking my machine with a tape guide and pinning the heck out of them and starching the heck out of them.
That said, I still like how it turned out. Very pretty.

 And that is my 3 month summary!
Have a great day!

 * Implantable ports or port-a-cath. A catheter connected to a port is surgically inserted (tunneled) under the skin of the chest, or sometimes the upper arm, by a surgeon or radiologist. You will receive either local anesthesia or be consciously sedated. Unlike the other two types of catheters, a port sits entirely underneath the skin. You may be able to see and/or feel a small bump in your chest or arm, but you won’t see the tip of the catheter outside the body. Before each “access” or needle insertion, the skin over the port may be numbed using a cream. When treatment is given, the skin is cleansed and a special needle is inserted through the skin into the rubber seal. This allows blood to be drawn or treatment to be given into the catheter that is connected to the port. (http://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/chemotherapy/catheters-and-ports-cancer-treatment)

 

Stitching away!

I have had some actual real sewing time over the last week or so and it has been so nice!
I have had a couple of burp cloths that I needed to finish up. My mother in law was kind enough to stitch up some embroidered terry and a cloth diaper for me using  Piece N Quilt's embroidery patterns and then I used the tutorial to make some cloths with them.

They are cute, but as a mom, I think they might be on the small side.  They end up about 9 1/2 inches square. I plan on asking the recipient in a few weeks how they work for her.

I also made a bag for my teen daughter's toiletries.

Our cupboard was getting a little out of hand and after looking at baskets and bins and bags at various stores, I came back home and remembered something I had pinned a while back. I went and checked out the pattern and it looked like it would be just right for the space and things that needed to be organized. It uses Jeni of In Color Order's drawstring bag tutorial and then an add on to add the pockets by Terri at Sew Fantastic.

I love that it stands up on it's own, thanks to a piece of cardboard between layers. It will make it so I can't wash it, and next time I will use some plastic, but it's good for now.

I have also been making progress on my pillow.

I got the applique stitched down and picked up a large hoop today to do the embroidery. I checked out 2 books from the library to help me learn more about applique and embroidery.

I tried almost all the stitches in the embroidery book, Doodle Stitching: Fresh & Fun Embroidery for Beginners.

I am still struggling with French Knots. I think I need a video, because following the written instructions either gets me a little tiny stitch or a kind of sort of French Knot. They don't quite look right. And I need those to make my little gnomey's eyes, so I really have to get them down.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I get kind of twitchy usually when I do small fiddly type things. But I did okay. I can't quite call it relaxing yet, but maybe someday.  This book was just about right for my skill set and most of the instructions were easy to understand. There was one diagram that they left the letters off, by accident I'm sure. The letters were identifying where your needle was going in and out from "A" to "B" to "C" and back to "A" and so forth, so missing letters made it kind of tricky to figure out. But overall I liked the book.

When I finish the pillow I want to try some of the applique techniques in the Stash Happy: 25 Fresh Projects for Fabric Lovers book. I also want to track down the other books in this series. They all look great.

Aaahhh... a lovely little quilt top

I spent a fair amount of time sewing over the weekend. We don't do the whole Superbowl thing, and we stayed home from church since 4 out of 6 of us were sick. That meant lots of free time.

I was able to finish the baby quilt flimsy that has been on my plate since last January! Woohoo!  I will need to get more backing fabric since I used about half of what I had purchased for it in the top. And I need batting as well, so it is back on hold for the moment.

I am just so glad I finally made it this far! Yay!

 

Baby quilt progress!

After nearly a year, the baby quilt is finally making real progress. It took ages to just get the pattern sketched, then purchase fabric. I think I started actually making blocks at the end of November (2013). Then I got hung up on 2 things.
1: I did not like my fabric I had chosen to frame one set of the fussy cut blocks. It was not working in the layout like it did as yardage in the shop.
2: I made one pinwheel and it was too small by 1/2 an inch.

That brought me to a screeching halt.

I took the project with me on Christmas vacation hoping to get some help and/or inspiration. I didn't even take it out of the bag.

I got home and finished making the half square triangles and squaring them up, then set it aside for a couple more weeks. Last week I took the time to make half pinwheels (2 HSTs sewn together.) This afternoon, I finished up the pinwheels and then put everything out on the floor to see what inspiration hit.
What I came up with was:
Just use the yellow blocks and eliminate the green fabric altogether. But without those green blocks the quilt would be tiny.
So then I would to add a border to the yellow blocks using my backing fabric (UGH!)to make them bigger.
Then I would add a white border to the pinwheels, making them sort of float and making them the same size as the yellow blocks.

I needed a couple more yellow blocks to finish off the layout and I had just enough yellow to do it. IF I had cut it right that is. I stitched up two more blocks, added them to the stack and they were too small. I had cut the borders a 1/4 inch too narrow. I had enough yellow left for one and a half blocks. I needed 2 more.
I ran to the quilt shop and of course they were out of my yellow. They had another fabric so I decided to just have one extraordinary yellow block in the quilt. :)

Brought it home, bounced the idea off my daughter and she vetoed. I decided against stitching scraps together to make the rest of the block and instead made 4 blocks with the new yellow and took out 2 of the old yellow blocks.

Now I am chain piecing borders and I might even have a flimsy by next week!  It feels like a weight has been lifted now that this quilt is moving forward with real momentum. I might even get it to the baby before she turns one at the end of March.

WIP update

**Go HERE for the giveaway post.**

It has been a while since I posted anything about Works In Progress. I am not linking up anywhere, this is just for fun.

I haven't made a lot of progress on any of these since February.
 Yesterday I decided to get some stuff moving forward.

The Baby 2 quilt needed to get off the back of the chair in my bedroom and get done so I could put it away. The baby turned out to be a girl and this quilt leaned heavily in the male direction. So I wanted to finish the top and pack it up so I can focus on doing a girl quilt. I have fabric chosen, just need to click the purchase button. :)

Dots 'n Tots Quilt Pattern by Debbie Taylor (It's Sew Emma Little P). Print fabric is Going Coastal and Shore Thing, both by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller fabrics. I added the extra little stripe in the center corners.

 

 

Beginners Quilt Along sampler quilt.

I have more sashing and borders to add to these blocks before I can quilt it. It is pieced in four rows of three blocks at the moment. I haven't ever sewn blocks together in rows and then added the cornerstone-ed sashing. I usually do it block by block. I hope it lines up okay.

My current WIP/UFO list

To Start:
Beach Blanket
Come What May
Coins
Crayons Box
FQS BOM
Halloween
Sewing Machine Cover
Teal and Brown Sleepytime
T-Shirt gift quilt


Finish Piecing:
Lavender Sampler
Alford BOM
Doll Quilts
Hot Wheels
MOTP QA
Supernova
Tree Skirt quilt


To Quilt:
Baby Quilt
Baby 2
Bliss
Candy Land
Log Cabin Topper
Neutral Mediterranean
Sliced Coins
Spools Table Runner
Very Hungry Caterpillar



In other sewing news, my husband surprised me with a tablet for my birthday last month and I needed a stand for it to rest on while I was cooking and sewing. I found a tutorial here, that looked simple enough. I made it even simpler by not cutting out her pattern pieces, but instead used my sour cream pouch tutorial and just added the extra stitching across the bottom and filled it in the same places as she showed in her photos. It works great!

 

Sewing like mad!

It seems that I have been sewing non-stop for the last little while, but I couldn't show any of it. I still can't show some of it. But one fun and new for me project is a tote bag with super cute applique that I have had the privilege to pattern test.
Erin Schlosser of Schlosser Designs created it with Melissa at Iza Pearl Design.


Unfortunately I got hung up in my testing when I went to my thread box for my light blue thread and it was gone! I needed it to quilt the front and back of the bag. The quilting is the last step before assembly. So, my bag was stuck in limbo until I could get to the store for more thread. (And I missed my deadline.)
I got thread today and the plan is to quilt the rest and assemble it tomorrow. But in the meantime, you can see my cutie sassy girl that is appliqued on the front.

Waiting patiently for quilting.

 I have appliqued very little previously and with not very good results when I did. But this time I did awesome! (Except for that dainty little mouth, which had me nearly cursing as I messed it up again and again.) But it turned out alright. She has a cute tie that goes on her neck where the scarf "ties" under her chin. Did I already say super cute? Well, can you blame me?

You can see photos of the full bag and the other tester's bags on Erin's website HERE

The pattern is now up for sale as a PDF download or a hard copy in Erin's shop. 

She has a lot of fun patterns and they are easy to follow. I have made the Zoe Messenger bag

and the Floral Clutch.

I have plans to make a Reversible Grocery Tote soon.
Go check them out!


Another item in the works is a baby quilt for a friend who is the wife of my husband's co-worker. The wives of 5D Robotics all get along great and we get together for movie musical night, birthdays, movie premiers, things like that. 3 of those ladies are expecting babies in March, so we are having a lunch to celebrate the new arrivals on the 18th.
This quilt is for the gal who we know is having a girl. There is also a boy on the way (my sister in law), and a surprise baby.

It is not really "baby" fabric, but it is  pretty. I have been hoarding it for something special. It is Tidbits by Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts. By coincidence the pattern is from her too, CrissCross, though I think it is a discontinued one. I have had it for a long time.  I think it was the second printed pattern I ever bought. I am not making the full quilt, just 12 blocks instead of 20 and no borders (probably).
 I messed up the cutting so I was forced into doing the blocks the way you see below, instead of all the florals being on the corners. I think it will be okay. There are green and pinks still to come. This is just the yellow and brown set.



I have not worked on any UFOs since I finished the pillow. But that is okay! :) They are not going anywhere.

Have a great weekend!

 

The year of the UFO

This year I am going to clean up the pile of UFOs that is cluttering my life. Check it out.

 That is kind of a crazy pile of things that need to be finished.

These have been waiting to be started.

 

To Start:
Beach Blanket
Come What May
Coins

Crayons Box
FQS BOM
Halloween
Jolly Holiday pillow
Sewing Machine Cover
Teal and Brown Sleepytime baby 2
T-Shirt gift quilt

These have actual sewing done on them but have a fair amount of work that needs to be completed.
  
Finish Piecing:
Alford BOM
Baby Quilt
Doll Quilts
Hot Wheels
Lavender Sampler
MOTP QA
Supernova
Tree Skirt quilt

And these are projects ready for quilting (though there are a couple that need backing).

 To Quilt:
Bliss
Candy Land
Christmas Table Topper
Log Cabin Topper
Neutral Mediterranean
Sliced Coins
Spools Table Runner
Very Hungry Caterpillar

 

 And of course these lists do not include current WIPs (except the baby quilt). I have a couple of scarves to make, blocks for a Facebook group I am in, Personal Progress Book kits to prep (no sewing though) and patterns I am testing for a friend.

It was a little exhausting gathering these all up and documenting them. But it feels so good now that I am  more organized and know what I have on my plate.

What dusty UFOs do you have hiding in your closet? :)

WIP Wednesday: Christmas UFOs

Linking up these works in progress at Freshly Pieced

It's Wednesday and I actually worked on some long time Works in Progress that can be classified as UFOs, the Thangles Tree Skirt and matching Advent Calendar (Tutorial here). I finished the stockings in time for Christmas last year. I am hoping that at least one of these 2 will be done before Christmas this year.

The Advent calendar just needs to be bound. That means making binding.

November 2012

I know, it looks kind of atrocious. Apparently I am terrible at pressing consistent 1/2 hems. None of the pockets is the same size, exactly, so when I sewed them down, going up and down and the rows and across the bottoms of the pockets, the quilting lines went really wonky between them. (Yes I was being lazy.) I have not ironed it yet, so that might help. Or I may need to quilt the white areas to death to hide the crazy. :)
I had some trouble fitting them all on the background, probably from my inaccurate pressing. I had to trim the header a ton to get them to fit. I think if I made it again, I would cut the background a couple inches wider all around and give the pockets a little more room. I also need to ping Lee and see what batting she used. I used fusible fleece, which looks pretty darn bad. It only fuses on one side too, so I quilted down the middle and around the edges to get the front to stay down. I used the cruddy looking side for the back.



The tree skirt is transitioning to a quilt, or rather not transitioning from a quilt top to a tree skirt. I decided to keep it as is and use it to cuddle under and keep on the couch instead of under the tree. I can still put it down there, it just won't be so easy to do without the slit.

October 2010

November 2012

December 2010

December 2012

Did you notice that I put the corners on backwards? :) I noticed too late, but since it is not going to be a round tree skirt I don't mind, so they stay.
The reason it has not been put together is that when I trimmed the blocks, I had no idea what I was doing (still don't) and left very little seam allowance, which cuts off points. I put the rows together and lost the points. I ripped them out and packed it up. 2 years ago.
So this time when I put them together I used a very scant seam allowance and only lost one point, just barely. Of course, when/if I border it I might lose a few more.
I plan on doing a scrappy back with all the leftover fabrics.

I still have several scarves outstanding that I need to get going on. Then my holiday sewing will be done.

Have a great week!

WIP Wednesday November, 11 2012 - lots of ripping

 I set a goal in October to spend the month working on and hopefully finishing some UFOs. I did finish one, and worked on one or two others.  I am continuing the goal into November. Some of the things I brought out to work on were the Hot Wheels mis-quilt, the Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt, the advent calendar, the toddler dress and shirt make-over and trying to finish up one of the Beginners quilt along quilts to give as a Christmas gift.

Here is the BQA set of blocks partly sashed. I think the fabric (Kaffe Fassett shot cotton Granite) I chose is pulling the other fabrics together nicely. I  just need to decide on a layout so I can sash the right side.




Ah the Hot Wheels mis-quilt. :) I ended up ripping out the blocks and ripping the blocks apart from each other, but they are still whole blocks. I have played with them a bunch and still can not get them to work well, so they may get de-constructed even further. I decided to save myself the trouble of ripping the borders because I may be able to just cut what I need. So now it is a window quilt. :)

The progress on the Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt is I ripped the misaligned border off.  I need to just sit down and knock this one out. It is just borders.

The weird shirt makeover didn't happen, because it turned out that the pants were really too small to be useful, so I passed the whole outfit on to a friend, who also thought the shirt was weird. I wonder how many people it will get passed to before someone uses it. :)

The bubble dress makeover went reasonably well. Littlest Miss refused to model for the "before" shots, so we just have it laid out.

 

The bottom/inside of the dress.

After seam ripping and hemming the lining and outer dress.

 She wore it to church last week with no fuss, and other than wrinkling like mad it was fine. It looks WAY better this way. The funny thing was that her little friend at church was wearing a bubble dress that was actually really cute (I don't usually like the style at all.)
The difference to me was the drape. Our dress had fabric that was too stiff; it puffed out in a strange way making it look like an upside down mushroom. The other little girl's dress fabric was lightweight and silky and hung really nicely. I am glad I made this one work for us. At least I don't feel like I totally wasted my money now.

Before church, I also took off the blue ribbon dangling down. It looked like an award ribbon which kind of bugged me. Plus, it kept covering the flowers. 

 This is one project where there was no seam ripping involved. Just pressing and cutting.
After 2 years, I am finally getting back to my version of Lee's great Advent Calendar.
I got my pockets cut and pressed and replaced my fusible fleece for the 3rd time. (I kept borrowing it for other projects.)

I am linking up at Freshly Pieced. Go check out some great ongoing projects!