Today I start working on a new fun secret project. Not sure when I will be able to share it with you but know that I am sewing my heart out this weekend trying to hit a deadline. Next week I will show you all the Hazel mini quilts I finished this week. I am really quite tickled with how they turned out!
In the meantime, happy sewing!
So this was actually 2 full weeks ago and I’m just kind of behind on blogging and photo editing. Anne is in Pre-K this year, I’m so not ready for Kindergarten, but I guess it doesn’t matter what I’m ready for, it is right around the corner and I better get on board!
Anne picked out the dress pattern and fabrics that we used to make her dress this year. We were at Fabric Depot in Portland and she had so much fun picking everything out. The crazy thing is that with all the fabrics available, she managed to pick out 3 Riley Blake prints all on her own. Clearly the girl knows coordinating prints when she sees them!
Last year she said she wanted to be a pilot and she actually said that first, but then she insisted I write Doctor down on her board. I guess with how much time she has spent in the hospital the doctors have made a good impression on her. She has very high aspirations in life!
Our preschool doesn’t do back packs for the kids, they have preschool bags in a range of colors for each child. Cuts out on the competition aspect of school that will start all too soon next year. She was stoked that her bag was pink. As Anne will tell you “Pink goes with everything!”
She was so excited for school that she kept looking in the window while we waited for her teacher to open the door.
Did you make anything for the first day of school?
Huh? What does that mean?
It means I am taking a break and sewing with some Comma.
According to Dictionary.com “a comma is a punctuation mark used to set something apart and is usually accompanied by a pause” – yes I’m paraphrasing, the definition is way longer than that and even includes talk of numbers. I avoid numbers whenever possible, they make my head hurt!
I’ve been taking a pause from the purple quilt, it is kind of making my head hurt because I have Quilt Block (haha) – I can’t figure out how to quilt it or if I even want to attempt to do it on my home machine. The last largish quilt (60×60) that I did on my machine I was out of commission for almost 3 weeks. Well the purple quilt is 75×75 – and actually 85×85 with the extra room on all sides for shifting! That is quite large and quite daunting to me! So I am taking a pause, or a comma if you will.
I’m working on something completely different for my sewing machine. I’m hoping to use it on sew days with my new guild! I am taking a ton of pictures and will hopefully be writing a tutorial. Later this week look for the turning the backing to a binding tutorial.
Have a happy Tuesday everyone! Anne and I will be off to mommy & me ballet this morning which should be lots of fun!
The last 2 days I have been happily sewing away on a set of purses. I’m only showing you one here because they are completely identical. I followed a fabulous tutorial and pattern from verypurpleperson. I found the pattern on Pinterest by searching for reversible tote patterns. I made this bag as part of a swap group I’m in on Facebook – Sew Swap Share. The challenge this quarter is for a re-usable grocery bag. I decided my partner needed a chic reversible grocery bag made from some lovely home dec fabric by Anna Maria Horner, the design is “Drawing Room”. I already know that my partner is happy with the pictures and can’t wait to mail hers off to her. The extra one will be one of my new bags for farmer’s market and perhaps just around town too.
I’m torn…can’t decided if I like the blue better or the pink?!?
I just wanted to show off the darts a bit. I thought they were a nifty design feature – different take on a boxy bottom if you will.
What did you all work on this weekend?
I have been doing a lot of weekend sewing lately. Quick and simple projects that offer me some instant gratification – I love instant gratification! Most of these pictures have already been up on my Facebook page, but I thought I would share a little more about the projects I have been working on and not blogging about. There are way more than this, but these are finished and photographed!
One of my wonderful blogging friends, Eileen, and I had a conversation about hand embroidery back in June and she oh so generously offered to send me a little starter kit to learn some of the basic stitches. When I opened it I was blown away. There was a hoop, 2 patterns, 2 pieces of muslin with tons of stitches done to show me, 2 needles, a needle threader, and TONS of thread (both perle cotton and floss). I was so excited but as you all know in July my hands took a turn for the worse. Well this month I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and I gave the hand embroidery a try and I am now officially ADDICTED!
This is my first project and I have to tell you I was so tickled when I finished it. I don’t know why but it was a BIG deal to me, probably because I really thought I wouldn’t be able to do this. I have a lot more embroidery stuff to share with you and even the find of the year, but that will all have to wait for a future post!
Another project I worked on was for my hands to bring myself a little relief. I made myself a booboo bag. I know I’m kind of old for one, but ice packs make me really uncomfortable so I thought a flannel covering with a flax seed filled muslin bag might feel a little better on my wrists. I love it because I can throw it in the freezer and it just feels so good on my aching hands and wrists.
I decided to go with the super cute and kid friendly fabric in the hopes that if Anne needs to use it she will be enamored with the bunnies (she loves bunnies) and will be willing to have it on her booboo.
The last project I am going to share with you is Anne’s new art apron! I followed the wonderful Smock Monster Pattern by Rebecca Ruth Designs. It was super easy and came together beautifully. The cool thing is that when I went to my LQS, Ruby Street Quiltworks in Tumwater, WA to find the ric rac I needed, the person who helped me color match…was Rebecca herself! She works at Ruby Street. She is just the sweetest lady ever. Check out Anne modeling the 5T size.
Now you may be asking yourself…”where is the monster exactly?” Well I did option E of the pattern which is just a basic pocket. I was working with laminate – a first for me – and I wanted simple and doable. Anne loved the apron so much she wore it for about 4 hours straight and only took it off when I told her it was time to take a bath!
So I told you that last week was a rough one. We had to deal with some ongoing health issues for Anne and that is never easy. Hard to explain to a 2 year old that the tests are painful and uncomfortable but absolutely necessary for her well being. She doesn’t care about those things, she only cares that someone is hurting her (and I don’t blame her one bit!). Well on Thursday we got to meet one of my wonderful blogging friends and bee mates in person, the wonderful CeLynn from The Sunflower Patch. It was so cool to put a face with a name! We went fabric shopping and in the middle I got a phone call from the doctor and CeLynn was awesome enough to go with us to the lab to pick up stuff for Anne’s testing.
Then on Sunday I realized that the Pacific West Quilt Show going on in Tacoma, WA- a 45 minute drive later and Anne & I were surrounded by some amazing eye candy! The coolest part, aside from buying a ton of thread from Superior Threads, was meeting Marsha McCloskey – author and designer of the Feathered Star books and ruler that I blogged about back in May! I bought 2 more of her rulers AND she gave me a copy of one of her books! How cool is she!!! Here is a picture of the 2 of us in front of one of her stunning quilts:
And so long as I kept the snacks at the ready…Anne seemed to have a good time too!
Ok, you’ve heard enough from me for one day. Tomorrow I will have a post up about a fun blog hop I will be participating in next month, so be sure to check in. Also, if you haven’t already I am have a fun giveaway up as part of the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop, so make sure you go enter, there are 6 Amy Butler Fat Quarters up for grabs and a great book too!
