Twenty five pound obstacle

How is my I Spy quilt going?

Um yeah. Progress is slow.

Doll quilt completed!

I've been MIA lately due to a very bad week of sickness in my household. I'll spare you the details, but if you  really want to know you can read about it here.

I started making this quilt as a trial run for Alex's I Spy quilt, using some of the extra squares I had. It was a good practice and I'm much more confident now (and I also know which mistakes to avoid too!). I gave it to Alex's second cousin for her first birthday (which hopefully won't get lost in the shuffle after getting three carloads of toys a month ago at Christmas...anyhooo....).

The quilt top was fun to make. All of the stars lined up for me and Alex had a good 3 hour nap, giving me enough time to make the quilt top, press the seams, and then pin it to the batting and back. I then stalled a bit, since the whole quilting part and then adding the binding around the edge kind of freaked me out. I spent a full evening watching youtube video about making bias tape and binding a quilt. When I'm stressed, I do research.

I spent several hours just measuring out the lines to quilt on, just because I suck at sewing in a straight line, so I figured I needed all the help I can get. I have this magical disappearing ink pen that writes on fabric and disappears after 48 hours. Who knew such a thing existed!

I ended up with a pre-made seam binding but I'm totally going to make my own for the next quilt. I tried all sorts of pinks and blues, but the grey just seemed to work the best, even if it's a little unconventional for a little girl's quilt.

I'm happy with how it turned out. Doll quilts are fun because they're a manageable size. I might just have to make another one for Stanley.

A big thank you to the lovely ladies at Emeline & Annabelle. I tweeted them in a panic, really not knowing what I was doing. They were able to talk me down from a crafting-induced ledge. The next day I went in to the shop and Annabelle helped me get things sorted out and gave me some much needed encouragement. It's very cool having them as a resource that I can go to.

 Doll Quilt for Bryanna. Approximately 14" x20"

(I'm making a guesstimate because I forgot to measure it before wrapping it up this morning. Snort)

Quilt back. Yep it's the flower fabric again from my tunic I just made.

Detail of some of the squares. Notice the carefully spaced quilted lines. Ohhh, ahhh.

Bias tape. Hand sewn in the back. I know what a mitered corner is now!

One of the quilt bloggers I read (can't remember which one, gah!)

stated she only folds the quilt when it's done. I like that. So there it is.

A new sewing project....

So my next sewing project is a biggy. Like what the heck am I getting myself into big. I'm going to make a quilt.
I used to think people who made quilts looked like this:

But of course there are many cool quilters. I really love the internet sometimes. I never would have known that young hip artists make quilts too. I've been pouring over blogs and tutorials, drooling over fabrics on Etsy.

I'm starting with a small quilt for Alex. It's an I Spy quilt, so each square is different. It's been fun selecting the fabrics. I'm still missing a few, so I can't really start sewing until I have everything. I'm making it with 36 squares, going from light to dark.

These are two of the blocks (tentatively) out of the four that will make up the quilt.

My assistant placing the squares for me.

It's so hard to find good help these days...

Block #1 Yellows and whites

Block # 2 Pinks and Blues

So for now I continue to oogle fabrics, and wait for some squares from friends and another small purchase from Etsy (the lovely seller had a Pay It Forward listing that only cost me the price of shipping and the listing fee).

This quilt seems easy enough right? The quilt top is the easy part. It's all the stuff that goes on behind is the tricky part. Have I mentioned being precise isn't really a strong point for me? Um yeah. It's a good challenge right?

Sewing success: Schoolhouse Tunic

So I finally made something for myself to wear. In high school I made a lot of my outfits (and tapered a lot of pair of jeans...oh boy showing my age), even making my grad outfit for myself and for a friend. I got busy, had other things to do and then after my undergrad in university, I no longer had projects lined up. The sewing machine got buried.

I saw this shirt/tunic on a friend who had made one at a local sewing shop. It was super cute and I wanted one. I got myself the pattern from Sew Liberated. It's been on hold a while until I was able to finish the felt book. Starting more than one project is a guarantee that I won't finish one of them. That and I have no space to store projects.

I adapted the pattern a bit to fit my...ahem...assets. The front has a bit more leeway in it and there was supposed to be a large inverted box pleat in the back that fell funny on my butt and might as well have been a giant butt bow. So I made it a simple gather in the back and added a little panel in the front.

It's comfy. It's sassier than a t-shirt. I may have to make another one (now that I know what I'm doing).

Good thing Alex had a long nap today. It took me forever to get a descent self portrait shot (I really should have put some makeup on) with no tripod and just my timer on my camera.

I enjoy the neckline on this shirt. You get a good shot of what the fabric looks like here.

 Comfortable shirt. Awkward hand placement. This was the least bizarre.

 Gathers, much more flattering than a giant butt bow.

One of the many outtakes. Not sure what I was going for here.

Can I just say, a good bra makes all the difference.

Stitchery Success! Oven Mitts!

So I had a great time yesterday at my sewing class. The oven mitts seemed so simple but there were a lot of steps involved, lots of pieces. It was supposed to be two different materials but I kept it to one pattern since it was busy enough. I thought I was clever, getting crab fabric for oven mitts. Ok, I think it's funny.

Like I said there were many pieces to cut, each mitt was lined and I kept forgetting, duh I need two mitts.

I've used a pattern many times before but my brain was working in slow motion.

Finally after 2 hours of cutting (whew!) we finally get to the sewing part. The girl teaching the class was very sweet and helpful, but seemed a little green in the teaching department. She wasn't giving us the next step to the class (of 3) but explaining it to one person. I would find out what do next, by overhearing it. Stop what you're doing, explain it to the class, then continue helping people individually.

Oh and I am not queen of teaching, she who is without fault. At one point when I was sewing the lining parts together, I stopped and noticed, oh no. One part is facing the wrong way. SIGH! It was nearing 4 pm and I was nowhere near being finished. I was rushing, and didn't know how Bubba was doing. Nice teacher girl was very sweet and ripped out the stitches for me while I worked on another piece. Then I got a text from Cathy saying that Alex was asleep. Wait! What?? Asleep? I tried to text her back when she called. She said he's asleep in the playpen. How? I asked. Man, she really is the baby whisperer, he's NEVER slept in the pack and play. Alrighty, I guess I still have time to work on the mitts. I was starting to think I'd have to go back another day.

I had never worked with quilt batting before, and I was surprised how easy it was. I guess it also helps that it was very nice organic cotton batting and not the usual polyester stuff you see in the stores.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the quilting on the mitts. We needed to do it to keep the batting in place. Any way we wanted. So much fun, just to be able to play with a sewing machine like that, freehand.

The construction was the easiest part. Poof! Suddenly I made an oven mitt. Then a second one. How cool is that?

Cathy called and asked how the progress was going, almost finished I told her. I didn't hear any screaming in the background. Hmmm. She said Alex was on the balcony hanging out with his cousins, eating cheese. Then I hear him say "chhhhhsssss". Yes, that's right, cheese Cathy said. Wow. Happy baby lasted 5 hours without me.

So I have these oven mitts that make me giggle when ever I look at them, and the thought that maybe I can take a bit more time for myself. Happy mom, happy baby right?

Starting to stitch the batting to the fabric.

Batting, and yummy latte. Did I mention the latte?

So many pieces. Lots of steps for a little pair of mitts.

Quilted fun. Wheeee!

Assembling the pieces together.

You know you're having a good time when you've run out of thread.

Stuffing the lining inside. (I could use a little hand moisturizer).

Almost Done! Just have to stitch the bottom border together.

Et voila! Oven mitts! Pinch pinch!

Hands up in the air!

I can't wait for the reversible bag class in August!