The Force Is Strong With This One

One of the hallmarks of a good pattern is adaptability. Jeni’s Lined Drawstring Bag is an excellent example of this. I can’t seem to stop making these bags! For these two, I eliminated the accent fabric as I felt that the Star Wars fabric was strong enough to stand on its own. The idea for Star Wars bags came from my sweet husband, who spotted the fabric while waiting patiently for me at a quilt store. I actually started these bags last year intending to wrap Christmas presents in them, but they languished half-finished until last week, when I received a boost of sewing mojo from starting and finishing my Triple-Zip Pouch in an afternoon. That inspired me to break out my new black Aurifil thread and finish them. Now to keep that momentum going!

Update: Linking up with Finish It Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Wintergraphix is Coming! A Christmas Quilt

Can you believe it’s almost December? It feels like only yesterday that I started my Christmas in July efforts, only to be sidetracked by fun in the sun. Now that the days are shorter and the nights are colder, I’ve been able to find more time for sewing. (A road trip across the state and back over Thanksgiving weekend didn’t hurt, either.) Fortunately, I was able to finish this Christmas quilt for my grandma in time for it to be an early Christmas present. My grandma is one of those people who have a knack for transforming their home into a winter wonderland, so I knew she would appreciate this quilt.

 

Most of the fabrics in this quilt are from Wintergraphix I, II and III by Jason Yenter. In the Beginning was my favorite local quilt shop while it was still open, so I have a bit of a soft spot for Jason Yenter’s fabrics. My mom bought most of this fabric for me years ago. I dutifully stored these lovelies in their own plastic bin along with the pattern I picked out for them. When I pulled them out this summer, I realized that the pattern was no longer my style, as it involved lots of sashing and borders. I have grown to thoroughly dislike borders. I couldn’t find another pattern that felt right for these fabrics, so I made up a simple pattern based on 5”x10” and 2.5”x5” rectangles. I miscalculated somewhere along the way, so this quilt ended up closer to twin-sized than lap-sized. For the quilting, I just echoed the seams. I quite like how it turned out. Now I’m itching to make a Christmas quilt of my own.

 

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

My First Garment: Wiksten Tank Dress

 

Making my own clothes has been something that I have wanted to do for years and years. More than once, I bought a pattern and fabric only to abandon the project in frustration or despair. Time passed, and eventually examples of the Tova shirt and Wiksten tank began popping up all over the blogosphere. As I read over and over how easy the pattern was to make and how happy people were with the results, I began to think that I just might be able to make one myself, previous failures notwithstanding.

During the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Meet-Up, I received in-person encouragement from Kelli of Drygoods Design. That day, she wore a Wiksten tank that she had recently finished. Paired with a cardigan sweater, it was both cute and professional. Kelli kindly answered my questions about her experience sewing up the tank, and confirmed that quilting cotton was a perfectly acceptable fabric for the tank. Shortly thereafter, I bought the downloadable Wiksten tank pattern and several yards of fabric from a line called Andalucía. (I'm a sucker for fabric named after foreign locales, especially those I have visited.) I stalled after printing out the pattern though, as I had neither the time nor the inclination to tape together so many sheets of paper and then cut out the pattern. The project languished in a corner until, on a whim, I packed it in my suitcase for Sewing Summit. I wanted to take advantage of the open sewing times, but didn't want to take any of my existing WIPs or something that required a lot of fabric. Packing this project turned out to be an inspired choice.

The Wiksten tank is indeed quite simple, but it took three evenings for this novice to complete the tank dress. It would have taken even longer if not for the moral and practical support of my mom. Along the way, I made a few tweaks to the pattern. I omitted the decorative pocket, make the neckline trim out of contrasting fabric, and used double-fold binding for the armholes (the single-fold option was too fiddly for my tastes). Let me tell you, I am thrilled with the results! In fact, I am sorely tempted to make half a dozen more, and spend this fall and winter exclusively in tank dresses, scarves, sweaters and leggings. Stay tuned for more of this pattern, as I’m planning to go stash diving for another tank dress soon.

 Linking up to Finish It Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Flurry Poochie Bag

Ever on the hunt for cute fabric gift bags to make for Christmas, I decided to use up a few more Flurry fat quarters and give Happy Zombie’s Poochie bag a whirl. Despite that fact that I didn’t pay enough attention to the direction of the tree print, I really like the end result. This pattern uses three fat quarters with very little waste, whips up quickly, and is structured enough to stand up on its own. I especially like the traditional gift bag shape. Since the bag is open, I will add some tissue paper when it comes time to wrap a gift in it. Using tissue defeats part of my purpose for making fabric gift bags for Christmas, as I am trying to reduce the environmental impact of our holiday habits. However, this bag is still visually pleasing and handmade, which is awesome. I will definitely make this pattern again, but most likely for one-time occasions such as birthdays, and not for large scale giving holidays.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Blueberry Pie (Pops)

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the consumerist mindset of always buying the latest and greatest fabric lines. I know I do now and again. More often, I find myself enjoying the process of working with the fabric I have on hand, especially scraps from other projects. For example, my recently finished Blueberry Pie baby quilt is composed almost entirely of scraps, both my own scraps and scraps from a family scrap swap. A few fat eighths that I received as a gift were the only non-scrap fabric.

When I participated in a family scrap swap last year, I wanted to start using the scraps I received sooner rather than later. At first, I didn't know which pattern to use, but when I saw Blueberri Breezes at Angel Scraps Quilting, I was motivated to make my own version. After the top was finished, I still had quite a few scraps left over. Inspired by Missing the Point by Ocheltree Design, I decided to cut the remaining scraps into 2.5" strips and piece them together end-to-end and see where that led me. I wasn’t expecting to make the backing entirely of scraps, but that’s what happened! I even incorporated the tiniest of scraps using completely cauchy’s Scraptacularity method, which I loved.

I quilted Blueberry Pie in a cross-hatch pattern following the design of the “front.” In the end, I like the “back” even better. The binding is also made from scraps, but I bet that’s not a big surprise. This quilt was so enjoyable to make, that I felt compelled to celebrate its completion with baked goods, specifically, Blueberry Pie Pops.

Pie making seems to run in my family, but I’ve never made Blueberry Pie (or Pie Pops) before. By combining Cakespy’s Pie Pop recipe and Macrina Bakery’s Classic Blueberry Pie recipe, I managed to make a passable Blueberry Pie Pop. Somehow I ended up with too much pie filling and not enough dough, so I will share my particular recipe after all the wrinkles are ironed out.

If you like either quilts or food, stop by A Quilter’s Table for Tuesday at the Table. If you like scraps, check out Stitched in Color’s Scrap Attack. I also plan to link up with Finish it Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Double the Luck

I like to make things for my mom, especially quilty things. When I found this cute fabric with blue and green clover made out of hearts, I knew I wanted to make a St. Patty’s Day table topper for her. The yardage languished in my stash for far too long before I came up with a pattern that I liked. This block must have a name, but at the moment it eludes me. Once I started working on mom’s version, I fell in love with it so hard that I had to make one for myself, too.

To make these little cuties, I cut 5” squares out of the focus fabric and my blue and green scraps. Then, I cut some of them into 2.5”x5” rectangles and some into 2.5” squares, so that the focus fabric and scrappy fabrics alternated.

I actually started these quilts in March 2011. It took me so long to hand quilt my mom’s version that I decided to machine quilt mine. I quilted the same pattern on both, as I had never compared the results of the two quilting techniques side-by-side. The hand quilting is homier, but the machine quilting is much faster and cleaner-looking.

Of course, a handmade present called for a handmade gift bag, so I whipped up one of my fabric gift bags, based on a block made by HoosierToni. After I figured out the math from scratch, I realized that there is a tutorial at thought and found.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Sunshiny Day Mini Quilt

Oh, the siren song of quilt alongs! Last year, unlearned in the hazards of craft blogging, I joined two quilt alongs at the same time: the Kaleidoscope Quilt Along at Don’t Call Me Betsy and the Warm/Cool Quilt Along at In Color Order. Too late, I learned that there is more to quilt alongs than sewing: they are rich, social experiences. Unfortunately, I had neither the time nor the energy last year to fully participate in either quilt along that I joined. I managed to complete my Kitty Kaleidoscope quilt at the end of 2011, and finally finished my Sunshiny Day mini quilt this month, eight months after I started it. Luckily, it was worth the wait.

I pulled a variety of cool solids and warm prints from my scraps and stash, used a bright gingham print for the back, hand quilted it in white Perle 8 thread and bound it in a yummy lemony solid. It now hangs on the wall of my sewing nook, where I can enjoy it every day.

 

Linking up with Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and Finish it Up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

UPDATE: Also linking up with the Festival of Half-Square Triangles at Canoe Ridge Creations.

Finish It Up! The Finale

Can it be August 15 already? The past two months have flown by! To be honest, I enjoyed this challenge more than I anticipated. When it comes to quilting, I tend to have more inspiration than I have time. I often start new projects before finishing up old ones. It was very affirming to finish so many projects in such a short space of time.

Over the sixty-two days of the Finish it Up! Challenge, I finished a total of six projects. That means that I finished 35% of the seventeen projects on my list! I had hoped to finish more, but I am still very happy with what I did finish. I would definitely participate in a similar challenge in the future.

Here is my final list of projects:

1.       Yellow Brick Road #1: FINISHED

2.       Yellow Brick Road #2: FINISHED

3.       Unblogable #1

4.       Unblogable #2

5.       Baby’s Color Book

6.       Aqua and Red Table Runner/Unblogable #3: FINISHED

7.       Paris Cats Quilt #1

8.       Batik Kit Quilt: FINISHED

9.       Hexagon Mug Rug/Unblogable #4: FINISHED

10.   Call Me Crazy

11.   Scrappy Nine-Patch

12.   Unblogable #5

13.   Forest Friends Embroidery: FINISHED

14.   Blueberry Pie

15.   Warm Cool Quilt Along

16.   Kaleidoscope Quilt Along: Progress

17.   Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles

Stats

Number of projects at beginning of challenge: 14

New projects: 3

Completed projects: 6

Number of projects at end of challenge: 11

Check out Fashioned by Meg to see what other people have finished.

Finish It Up! Two Finishes in One Week

This week was a great week for quilting! I finished not one, but two quilts: the Aqua and Red Table Runner and the Batik Kit Quilt. Let’s hope that I can keep this momentum going.

Here’s an update on my progress:

1.       Yellow Brick Road #1: FINISHED
2.       Yellow Brick Road #2: FINISHED
3.       Unblogable #1
4.       Unblogable #2
5.       Baby’s Color Book
6.       Aqua and Red Table Runner/Unblogable #3: FINISHED
7.       Paris Cats Quilt #1
8.       Batik Kit Quilt: FINISHED
9.       Unblogable #4
10.   Call Me Crazy
11.   Scrappy Nine-Patch
12.   Unblogable #5
13.   Forest Friends Embroidery: FINISHED
14.   Blueberry Pie
15.   Warm Cool Quilt Along
16.   Kaleidoscope Quilt Along: Progress
17.   Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles

I’m hoping to have at least a couple more finished before the challenge ends on August 15. We’ll see how it goes.

Check out Fashioned by Meg to see what other people are finishing.

Finish It Up! Slow and Steady

Finish It Up! Slow and Steady

Since last week’s Finish It Up! post, I have finished another quilt, which means I am down to 14 WIPs.

Here’s an update:

1.       Yellow Brick Road #1: FINISHED
2.       Yellow Brick Road #2: FINISHED
3.       Unblogable #1: Progress
4.       Unblogable #2
5.       Baby’s Color Book: Progress
6.       Unblogable #3
7.       Paris Cats Quilt #1
8.       Batik Kit Quilt
9.       Unblogable #4
10.   Call Me Crazy
11.   Scrappy Nine-Patch
12.   Unblogable #5
13.   Forest Friends Embroidery: FINISHED
14.   Blueberry Pie
15.   Warm Cool Quilt Along: Progress
16.   Kaleidoscope Quilt Along: Progress
17.   Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles

Next week I will focus on finishing Color Book and catching up on my quilt alongs.

Check out Fashioned by Meg for more finishes.

Finish It Up! One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Since my last Finish It Up! post, I have finished one project and started two more, which brings me to a total of 15 WIPs. I think I have a problem. The thrill of the start is just so alluring! And there is so much great inspiration out there! I have decided, though, that I am not going to start a single new project until one of two things happens: either I make it to the end of this challenge, which is August 15, or I get my list of WIPs under 7 (half of the 14 I started this challenge with.)

Here’s an update:

1.       Yellow Brick Road #1: FINISHED

2.       Yellow Brick Road #2: Progress

3.       Unblogable #1: Progress

4.       Unblogable #2

5.       Baby’s Color Book: Progress

6.       Unblogable #3

7.       Paris Cats Quilt #1

8.       Batik Kit Quilt

9.       Unblogable #4

10.   Call Me Crazy

11.   Scrappy Nine-Patch

12.   Unblogable #5

13.   Forest Friends Embroidery: FINISHED

14.   Blueberry Pie: Progress

15.   Warm Cool Quilt Along: Progress

16.   Kaleidoscope Quilt Along: Started

17.   Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles: Started

Next week I’m going to focus on finishing the Yellow Brick Road #2 quilt and making good progress on the Color Book.

Finish It Up!

Well, I think I made decent progress this week. Since last Friday, I finished a project and started a new one, so I still have fourteen WIPs. Here’s an update:

1.       Yellow Brick Road #1: FINISHED

2.       Yellow Brick Road #2: Progress

3.       Unblogable #1: Progress

4.       Unblogable #2

5.       Baby’s Color Book: Progress

6.       Unblogable #3

7.       Paris Cats Quilt #1

8.       Batik Kit Quilt

9.       Unblogable #4

10.   Call Me Crazy: Progress

11.   Scrappy Nine-Patch

12.   Unblogable #5

13.   Forest Friends Embroidery

14.   Blueberry Pie: Progress

15.   Warm Cool Quilt Along: Started

Next week I’m going to focus on finishing the Yellow Brick Road #2 quilt and the Forest Friends Embroidery.

Check out more Finish It Up! projects at Fashioned by Meg.

Finish It Up Challenge

I have really enjoyed WIP Wednesdays over at Freshly Pieced, but it has also made me a little sad. I have so many unfinished projects and there are so many more that I want to make! I did manage to finish one this week, but that means that I still have fourteen WIPs. I made a table that shows all of my current WIPs and what needs to be done to finish them. Then, I saw that Fashioned By Meg is hosting a Finish It Up Challenge. Just what I need to kick-start the summer!

Some of these projects have not been included in my WIP Wednesdays because they are gifts and/or secret and some have not been featured because I had not planned on working on them any time soon. When I was pregnant, I felt a huge urge to “use up” fabric before the baby came, which resulted in finished quilt tops for which I had no quilting deadline. I would really like to get some of these projects off my plate so that I can have a clear conscience starting some new projects I have coming up. I want to join the Kaleidoscope Quilt Along at Don’t Call Me Betsy and the Warm Cool Quilt Along at In Color Order. Also, my mom and I are taking a Half-Square Triangle class from Katie of Sew Katie Did at the end of the month.

Here’s what I’m going to focus on first:

Yellow Brick Road #1: I have the binding sewn on three out of four sides so far. I should be able to finish the hand sewing this weekend.

Yellow Brick Road #2: I now have the fabric for this binding. A week or two should be enough to finish this.

Forest Friends Embroidery: This should only take a couple hours to finish.

My goal is to have less than fourteen WIPs on August 15, 2011. Let’s see how many projects I can finish before then! If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go finish up that binding now.