Fireworks quilt

Whoa guys. Long time no see.

Don't mind the complete mess going on in these pictures. Really. I was so excited to finish this baby quilt (giant baby quilt) for a dear friend of mine. They don't know the gender yet, so I was going neutral. I really love how it turned out. 

I used the Fireworks pattern out of the book Strip Savvy which has a lot of cute jelly roll quilts. For the fabrics I used a Basic Mixologie  by Studio M for Moda jelly roll. The colors are really vibrant. The mother to be gave me yellow as a suggestion for colors... I guess this is my interpretation of yellow. I enjoyed making this quilt especially, because my friend and I were running several years ago when she mentioned she had gone to a sewing boot camp class at Sew Crafty and loved it. I had been Internet stalking the place for about a year, and she gave me the push I needed to try sewing. Since then it has become one of my favorite hobbies. In return for her encouragement to try sewing, I have since gotten to sew a project for their wedding, and now for their first baby. I love that.

For the back I used some extra scraps and a great fabric we found at Joann's. When I saw the deer fabric it was the perfect color, but I thought it may be too feminine. Then Mr. Thinks He Can saw it and said it was for boys. That sealed the deal, and it became the perfect fabric for the back. 

I digress here, but I found out my friend was waiting to see the quilt to decide on bedding for the rest of the nursery. I was so honored, and then freaked out under the pressure. I dreamed she came over, hated the quilt. I told her I could make a new one and she looked at me, said "That would probably be best." Then turned and left the room. I stayed in my room and cried the rest of the visit. Needless to say after I told her about my nightmare she told me that was 100% not going to happen in real life. When she opened the quilt she remained true to her word, and genuinely seemed to love it. I was sick with anticipation while she was opening other gifts though! 

This was my first time making a tag for a quilt. I just used permanent marker and a charm square folded in half and sewed it in with the binding. I like that it is in my handwriting, and it could be used to hang the quilt from a hook. For the binding I went with another fabric from Joann's. It is navy with white arrows. I went with a dark binding because I hope this quilt gets dragged around quite a bit. I also machine bound it because hopefully it gets dragged everywhere and will need to stand up to a lot of washes!

Of course my assistant oversaw the whole thing. Yes, there are four quilts in this picture. I only made three of them! She is doing well, and has been great for helping me get out of the house as well as cuddles. 

Of course I had to include an updated Ashton shot. She watched me make a lot of this quilt, and seemed to like the colors as they were being put together. Hopefully she and the new baby will be good friends one day. 

Introducing Ashton Olivia

Ashton Olivia was born on October 6 at 6:27 a.m. She weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and has been a dream to bring home. I'm sure she will be making appearances here in the future, but in the meantime there may not be a lot of sewing going on for a little bit as we get to know each other better!

A baby quilt

I made the free Strip Tango quilt as a baby quilt for a friend of mine.

In theory it was a quick and easy quilt to make, except I always trip myself up on easy stuff and wound up having to order more fabric from cutting it wrong and having to delay the work. Once I finally got it cut out correctly, it was a pretty easy sew.

I used fat quarters from Fantasia Crepuscular by Sara Lawson for Art Gallery. The binding was a pretty orange with tiny white arrows I found at Joann. It was a very nice quality. You may be able to make out a 5" grid pattern I made in blue to quilt it all together.

I used a nice bright blue and pieced together all the fabrics I screwed up to create a backing. I actually really like how the back turned out. 

This pattern was great, the only problems I had were me being careless. It would be a nice quilt for a beginner. I may make a few quilts to put on Etsy, and see how I do. I love making them, but at some point you really don't need anymore quilts. Your friends probably don't either come to think of it! I'll keep you posted on that.

Swoon quilt reveal

The quilt is finally finished! This is my Swoon quilt made with fabrics from Riley Blake's Trendsetter line as well as several cotton + steel lines. I have about a million hours into this sucker and couldn't be happier with the results.

The white is Moda's bleached white, and was a really nice quality to sew with. All the fabrics were.

Funny enough, this is my favorite square. Neither the stars or diamonds were my favorite fabrics, but together, they were such winners.

I did send this quilt off to a quilter with a long arm to be professionally quilted. I am really pleased with the results and it turned out much better than I could have done on my machine. Especially with a quilt this size. It is about a queen sized quilt.

The backing fabric as well as the binding is plain navy blue, and the quilting thread is white. It really turned out lovely and will soon be hanging on the wall of the new nursery. 

This snap of just the top makes it a bit easier to see the fabrics and colors. Don't mind my mess in the background! Now can I eek out another cardigan before I go back to work Monday?

Easy cardigan

I am heading back to school, pending my last Hail Mary stint of buying lotto tickets doesn't work out, in the next couple of weeks. In Houston we return in late August which may be Fall in some parts of the world, but Fall around here doesn't really hit until November. Working in education, I cannot just wear sun dresses and tank tops to work, so I made the Julia Cardigan in a short sleeve version to get me through.

The pattern comes in cap sleeve, 3/4 sleeve and long sleeve versions. I think it will help me transition back to work well, while still allowing me to be back in a sun dress as soon as I hit the parking lot. The cardigan has no closures which is perfect for what I needed.

It also has a nice length in back. I could wear that with some skinny jeans with enough coverage on my bum to feel ok. I did do a doubled over collar, which gave it a professional look instead of hemming it. 

The collar is actually a big loop that goes around the neck down the front and across the back. The instructions are easy and the whole project took about two hours. I think I may also make this in grey and leopard too. 

The only changes I made to the directions was being very liberal with my use of dog hair, which I believe enhances any garment, and I added clear elastic to the shoulder seams. It's just a habit at this point. I highly recommend this great project to anyone!

Updates on random projects

Clothes are out of the question right now, but I have been sewing a few things.

Crib sheets. They take 45 minutes and 2 yards of fabric. They are way cuter than the pink, blue, yellow and grey offerings in stores. 

I'm recovering a glider I got on Criagslist. I'm painting it white and changing from brown nasty fabric to fully washable/removable covers from cotton + steel's states fabric in a home decor linen weight. Please ignore the weird junk in all the pictures, we're still recovering from the ceiling falling in!

I;m also working on a Swoon quilt. It is pretty advanced compared to my usual quilts. This block is 2 feet by 2 feet and took me 3 hours to make! It has 73 pieces. I have two done and seven more to go! It will be beautiful when it is done, but it's a lot of work!

Beyond that I am enjoying being a lady that lunches during my summer. I get to hang out with friends, play in the pool and visit the YMCA all that I want. I love summers! 

Quilt help and catch up

I have been working on this quilt for awhile and it has taken forever. I'll get to that in a bit. First though, I need some help. I need to choose a color to go around the large middle part between the outside rows. I don't know what to go with. 

The fabric line I used was Fresh Cut by Basic Grey. The colors are really vibrant.

There are some bits of navy in the fabric, so I thought about that. I just don't know. Your opinions are very appreciated.

So where the heck have I been for two months?

                                        

First, I found out I'm pregnant so screw sewing any clothes. Honestly I'm really not into babies or baby stuff either, so I have lost all motivation there. Quilts it is! If anyone has any ideas to help me get my joy of sewing back, please share!

Second, we had some roof damage from a hail storm and the ceiling caved in. It is already hot and humid in Houston, and this room is upstairs by my sewing room. It gets sweaty up there real fast!

Third, the weather has been really nice to go to the beach, and we've been taking advantage of that. A lot!

Fourth, we've started a couple gardens. Yes, that poison oak I planted on the fence is doing even better than the vegetables, but what can I say? I have a green thumb like that.

Fifth, I have been hanging out with my cousin. We did a five mile race in April then last weekend we went and saw Britney Spears perform in Las Vegas. I love a good girl's weekend!

Now that the ceiling is back in place, and school is about to be out for summer I should get more time. Don't forget I need color suggestions first, so I can finish this one. Thanks for sticking with me during my hiatus!