Elephant Softie for the Ruby Star Wrap-Along

Five years ago, I read a blog post about cloth diapering. Before then, my only knowledge of cloth diapering was what my mom used on her kids - you know, safety pins and plastic pants. After reading the post, I was converted to cloth diapering and felt great pride in conserving and reducing my carbon footprint. After thumbing through Melody Miller and Alison Tannery's Ruby Star Wrapping book at Sewing Summit, I felt that same sense of pride and purpose and wanted to wrap my Christmas gifts this year in reusable materials to limit how much my family contributes to the landfill this Christmas. So, when Amy asked me if I wanted to participate in the Ruby Star Wrap-Along, I said, "Heck yes!" I was so excited to try some of the projects for wrapping my gifts this year. The funny thing is that when we got to pick which project we'd like to make, I chose the elephant softie and my four-year-old immediately claimed it for herself. No gifting it to someone else for Christmas. Oh well. At least that's a win in the make-something-my-daughter-loves department.

Melody and Alison offer suggestions for altering each project. I loved the look of the patchwork elephant in the book. As I was deciding on the fabric to use, I thought this Heather Ross penny patchwork print from her Nursery Versery line would be perfect! I used Patty Young's Running Stitch in pink for the pocket.

As a side note: when I finished the elephant, I had this vague memory pop into my head of a show I saw on TV when I was little. There was a patchwork puppy and a patchwork kitty that were fighting and ended up eating each other. Weird. No one I've talked to seems to remember seeing it, so if you know what I'm talking about, let me know so I don't think I'm crazy.



I thought the pocket looked like a cute little elephant ear, so I decided to put one on each side.



Now my daughter can fill those pockets to her heart's content. Maybe down the road, we'll even use it as her tooth fairy pillow.



Remember, you have the whole week to link up a project from the book. We're giving out a $40 gift certificate to Gelaskins (I SO want to order myself one of these!) and an awesome Melody Miller fabric prize pack from Drygoods Design Online!








If you've missed any of the stops so far on the wrap-along (which you'll definitely want to check out!), here's the schedule:

11.7.12 - Anna of noodlehead

11.9.12 Amanda of A Crafty Fox

11.12.12 - Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson!

11.14.12 - Brooke of Pitter Putter Stitch (you are here)

11.16.12 - Erin of Two More Seconds

11.19.12 - Jennifer of BettyCrockerAss

11.21.12 - Rochelle of Lucky Lucille

11.23.12 - Sukie of Sukie - don't you know who I am?

11.26.12 - Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy

11.28.12 - Gina and crew of Bolt Neighborhood

11.30.12 - Ellen of the Long Thread

12.3.12 - Katie of Swim, Bike Quilt

12.5.12 Faith of Fresh Lemon Quilts

12.7.12 Lee of Freshly Pieced

12.10.12 Maureen of Maureen Cracknell Handmade

12.12.12 Sara of Sew Sweetness

12.14.12 Colleen of The Busy Bean

12.17.12 Amy of Diary of a Quilter

12.19.12 Monica of The Happy Zombie

Heather Ross’ 2012 Studio Sale

A couple years ago, two of my friends brought their Heather Ross packages to one of the SLMQG monthly meetings. I didn’t know about Heather’s annual studio sale at the time and thought it was such a fun idea.

This year, when Heather announced that she’d be doing the sale again, I ordered a package right away. After reading about some people’s disappointment with their packages in the Flickr group, I started getting nervous. But, I was determined to have a good attitude about it, convinced that I’d be happy with anything Heather chose to send me.

I neglected to check the correct email address when watching for my shipping notification. So, I was really excited to just find my package sitting in my mailbox a couple weeks ago.

Here’s what I got:



When ordering each package, Heather asked us to tell her about ourselves, our families, and our interests. I told her about my kids and my hobbies. I think she did a great job pulling items together to send me.



This ADORABLE Munki Munki sock monkey dress fits my baby perfectly.



And she looks so stinkin' cute in it! (I'll post a picture of her soon - promise.)

There is also this Walden Surfboards tank that doesn’t fit my middle daughter yet, but she’ll grow into it.


Also included in my package were fat quarters of a Crafty Chloe print, which I already have, but was happy to receive more of; and three prints from Heather’s Nursery Versery line. I had the little pigs in gray already (my two older kids take it off my shelf all the time to sing the song with their toes) and was excited to get more piggies and the other two prints.



I think this next item was meant specifically for my son. Heather included this adorable sketch of Bert, the dog from the Crafty Chloe book, which she signed. I’ve since framed it and have it hanging in my son’s room.



We had a Crafty Chloe-themed birthday for my older daughter this year so she was excited to get her very own Crafty Chloe retractable measuring tape. There were two in the package, so I’m claiming the other one.



The last item in my package was this Crafty Chloe promotional poster addressed to my kids and signed by Heather.



The back has some fun little worksheet games that my son wanted to do right away, but I wouldn’t let him. (I'm so mean!) A friend suggested I make copies of it so he can do the games and puzzles that way instead.



Overall, I was really pleased with the package I received. I feel bad that others were less than thrilled about theirs, but I feel like I got a great package and definitely want to participate again.

August/September Bee Blocks and Other Random Sewing

August was Megan's month in the Sew Beautiful Bee. She asked for Lone Starburst blocks. She sent a bunch of really bright fabric scraps and asked us to follow the tutorial found at the Six White Horses blog here. I loved, loved, loved making this block! I usually start to sweat a bit when asked to paper piece, but this one was very doable for me and I had a lot of fun with it. I'll definitely be making some of these for myself in the near future!

AnneMarie's turn was next for September. She asked for improv hexagon blocks inspired by Angela's block here. AnneMarie sent a bunch of Japanese import prints. It was fun to fussycut these fabrics for the hexagons.

While perusing Instagram, I saw Rae's maxi version of her Washi Dress and just about died. I stalked her blog for a couple days, anxiously awaiting the release of her pattern. I snagged one and quickly bought fabric to make a Washi Tunic and a Washi Maxi. Here's my "quick, honey, take a picture of my shirt with my phone" photo. I haven't tackled the maxi yet, but I am please with how the tunic version came together.

My older daughter is at the age where not only does she love to wear skirts and dresses, but she likes wearing things that I've made for her. I want to take advantage of that for as long as I can since I know all too soon she'll refuse to wear anything I make for her or even hint at thinking is cool, because of course anything Mom thinks is cool will be the complete opposite. Several Saturdays ago, she wanted to wear a skirt (of course), and I sadly, but not surprisingly, was behind on laundry. I pulled out some Heather Ross Crafy Chloe Pin People fabric and made a quick 10-minute skirt. My daughter's friend wanted to play, and when she got to our house, she saw me making the skirt for my daughter. She asked if I'd make her one too. I tried to hide my huge goofy grin, said, "Sure," and asked her what her favorite color is (pink). I finished my daughter's skirt, she got dressed, and the two girls went out to play. I then ran upstairs, found some pink fabric, and whipped together another 10-minute skirt for the friend. (I noticed she was wearing it yesterday when she came over to play...my heart sang!)

I mentioned earlier that paper piecing makes me nervous. But, I've really come to love English paper piecing (EPP). I've been accumulating supplies over the last couple months and decided it was about time I make a zippered pouch to store my paper pieces in. For this pouch, I cut two 10x10 inch squares from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Shining typewriter fabric and two 10x10 inch squares from Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley Lodge Lattice in Azure fabric, and used a 10 inch zipper. I boxed the bottom of the pouch, making the finished bag about 8 inches wide by 9 inches tall. It's the perfect size (for now), and it's great to have all my EPP supplies in one place.

Well, thanks for making it through that hodgepodge of a post. I have a couple more finished quilts to show over the next little bit. Have a good weekend, everyone!

A few random sewing projects, part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I've really been enjoying working on some smaller projects that offer instant gratification when I finish them in one sitting. Perhaps this is because I've started so many big quilt projects that are in various stages of completion. Here's a hodge podge rundown of some of the projects I've been working on lately.

First up are a few drawstring bags using Jeni's tutorial. With three kids five and younger, it's a constant challenge to stay organized out our house. I made a few of these bags to help in our toy-organizing effort. These really are so quick to whip up, especially if you use ribbon as the drawstring. I plan to make many more of these in the near future.



I also sewed up a quick skirt for my daughter using the Crafy Chloe unicorn fabric by Heather Ross that is available at Hancock's. My daughter is pretty much obsessed with wearing skirts on a daily basis. I figured rather than buying more skirts since so many if hers have gotten too small (she's growing like a weed), I'd just make some.



This one isn't lined, but it's also meant to be a play-day skirt. I've since made another skirt just like this one using some DS Quilts and Lizzy House fabric that she can wear to church. I wanted it to be lined, but didn't want to "waste" good fabric on the lining, so I made it reversible instead. I still have to take pictures of that one, but I'll show you what I'm talking about when I do.



Now, I don't know about all you ladies, but when it comes to "that time of the month," I usually just carry tampons and such loosely in my purse. I remember in jr. high and high school being so embarrassed when I needed to use the restroom and tried so hard to be discreet. I decided it was time to have a cute little pouch I could house those supplies in and stick in my purse, making it easier to just grab the pouch rather than stick a tampon in my pocket and head for the bathroom. While I was at it, I made a few more for my nieces so they can feel a little less self-conscious too.



Last month, Jessica (Euphoria on Flickr) invited my to participate in a charity sewing event, Bibs for Babies, that she was organizing. The Operation Shower non-profit group gives baby showers to military families, helping to raise spirits despite deployment. She asked for everyone participating to make two baby bibs that she can donate to the cause, hoping to collect 100 bibs. This was a first for me, and while there's definitely room for improvement, it was nice to use some materials I had on-hand as well as contribute to good cause.



Well, that's the rundown for now. Check back Saturday for a few more projects I have in the works.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Goldfish Quilt

For this year's Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival, I wanted to share my newly-finished Goldfish Quilt.

Front:


Back:


While this quilt's design is nothing to shout about, what makes this quilt special is that it came together with other people's help.

My friend, Leigh, learned of my love for Heather Ross' Goldfish in Bags fabric at the end of last year. Since I came onto the quilting scene well after the fabric was out of print, I didn't have any. Leigh was amazing and swapped some of her other Heather Ross fabric to get me a fat quarter of these little fishies! Totally blew me away!



I wanted to make the most of the fabric so I fussy cut the fish and framed them in white and blue and orange fabric.



For the border, I used a stripe fabric from the same Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries line that I won in a giveaway from Rae earlier in the year.

It's nice to have this quilt finally done.

Sewing Update

So, I've been more of a slacker with this blog than I thought I'd be after getting over the sick part of being pregnant. I've been sewing, but I just haven't made the time to take pictures of anything. I want to blame it on the cruddy weather we had up through Sunday (thanks, Mother Nature, for sending me not only rain on my birthday last week, but snow too!), but I know it's just my laziness winning out.

I finished the quilt top and backing for my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows bed quilt. After much anxiety, I decided to send it out for quilting. I've never been willing to spend money on long-arm quilting since I figured I have the means to quilt myself, but this quilt is huge (between a king and a queen) and I knew I'd kill my back if I tried to baste it and quilt it myself. (A bad back plus no support due to an ever-expanding belly equals a lot of back pain.) So, I searched around and found a lady near my inlaws who is quilting it for me for a pretty good price. I should get it back next week. Once I get it bound and washed up, I'll post pictures of it.

While that quilt has been at the quilter's, I started item #3 on my 2011 quilty to-do list: my Goldfish quilt.



I had already fussy cut 20 goldfish out, and then I added a little bit of white around each fish. Then I used 3" strips of orange and blue fabrics to create each block. The sashing is Kona stone. I plan to add an additional border of the orange and blue stripes fabric from Heather Ross' Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries line to make it big enough for a lap quilt.





Several people have asked if I was making this quilt for our baby. That wasn't initially what I had in mind, but I have some more fish that I can use to make a baby-size version of this quilt...if I can keep some sewing momentum going through the summer.

The blocks are done!

I did it! All 25 blocks for the front of my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows quilt are done. I laid them out on my living room floor to get an idea of how the finished quilt will look. I am so loving this quilt. It may just become my new favorite.



I made three more blocks for the back. I can't decide if I want to orient them like this (all vertical) or if I should lay them out similar to the front.



I am waiting on the background/sashing fabric to arrive so I can finish the quilt. I looked at a Kona Color Card on Saturday and with the help of some of the girls in my quilt group, I decided to go with Kona Stone. I had to order a lot of it since I doubled the size of the quilt from the pattern and I'm using the Stone on the back. But, the Fabric Shack didn't have enough yardage so I ordered what they had (they have good prices on Kona solids), and then ordered the rest of the yardage from Sew Fresh Fabrics on Etsy.

I'm really tempted to buy the plum colorway of this line now and figure out another project for it. I have loved working with this fabric. The weight is wonderful (80% cotton, 20% linen). It'll be nice to see how it feels all finished and washed up.

FFA2 Kitchen Windows Progress

As of last night: eight down, 17 to go.



The pattern calls for 12 blocks, 3 columns x 4 rows. I'm increasing the size to 25 blocks, 5 columns x 5 rows. The final quilt should finish somewhere around 82 inches square. That's a nice big quilt. Maybe I'll increase the size of the border to make it big enough to fit my queen bed in case I want to alternate between this one and my All Star 2 quilt.

Finally some quilty sewing!

After Christmas, I was so excited to get started on some new projects. You might say I was a little impatient. I felt a little scatterbrained at first trying to decide what new project to start, so I ended up starting three.

One of my quilt plans for 2011 is to make a new quilt for my bed. The mister and I decided to go with the All Star 2 line. My plan is to make square-in-square blocks. Here are the first two.





I'm not sure what the final size blocks will be. These are about 12 inches, but I'm just kind of winging this one. The finished quilt needs to fit our queen-sized bed so I might finish the blocks at around 16 inches. We'll see how they turn out.

I got a baby shower invite in the mail yesterday, so after working on the two blocks last night, I started a quilt top for the baby-to-be. I tried out Oh Fransson's Mixtape pattern, but made a few modifications to speed up the process. I'll talk about this more later as I work on the quilt (it's due by next Friday), but I left out the sashing and I think it came together nicely.



Finally, I decided to start on a Kitchen Windows quilt from Elizabeth Hartman's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, using two of the colorways from Far Far Away 2. I wasn't quite sure what fabric to use as the "windows." I initially went with Kona Green Grass to create a lot of contrast between the windows and the background. But, the more I looked at the fabric, I didn't like how the color changed depending on the light. In natural light, the fabric matched the colors in FFA2 nicely, but in florescent light, it totally clashed.



The problem with going with a neutral, though, is that I'm worried the quilt will just get muddled.



Then I had the thought that if I go with the green window sashing, the green might overpower the FFA2 fabrics and stand out more than anything else. I kind of want the FFA2 fabric to be the star of the quilt, so I'm torn.

Any suggestions?

My Christmas Wish List

Coming up with a Christmas wish list to give my family has always been difficult in the past. It was much easier when I was little and living at home. But as an adult, I think it's hard because if I want/need something, I just buy it. I usually don't wait until Christmas or my birthday and ask for whatever it is. This year, however, has been different.

I decided to ask for fabric that I really want, but maybe am not willing to buy myself for whatever reason. Here's what made my list this year.

A fat quarter bundle of All Star 2 in green from Hawthorne Threads.


Some linen in The Morning Dew from Fabrics-store.com.


A fat quarter bundle of Innocent Crush in Potpourri from Hawthorne Threads. I want to make the Colorbrick quilt from Stitched In Color with this Innocent Crush fabric (hers looks amazing!), but I want to use the gray linen as the sashing instead of a tan neutral.


A fat quarter bundle of Far Far Away II in Meadow from Hawthorne Threads. I really want the aqua colorway too, but all the FQ bundles were out of stock when I made my list.


And lastly, some paper hexagon pieces. I love looking through the Bee Hexed In Flickr group and seeing all the variations people have made of the pillow from Fat Quarterly. Kati brought hers to our Modern Quilt Guild meeting a few months ago and I loved it. Now that I'm getting braver in trying new techniques, I'm finally ready to try hexagons.


So, there you have it. What are you hoping to get for Christmas this year?