a lovely match

I am so excited...I have finished my Have It All wallet from Straight Stitch Society!  Here it is:

I had a blast making it, and the pattern instructions were so easy to follow!  Here is a peek of the inside:

I had to think about the zipper pocket a moment or two...but once I realized what it was saying...it went together no problem!  I made only one change to the directions, and instead of using a piece of heavy sew-in interfacing, I used Pellon 809 throughout (had lots leftover from constructing my bag), and I think it worked well, plus I wouldn't have wanted to try stitching through all of that!

So now I'm all set with a lovely new bag and matching wallet:

And now...what to work on for the rest of the evening....

Checking in...

Hope you are having as enjoyable a weekend as I!  My plans for a sewathon of a weekend are on pretty good track.  Now, it hasn't been non-stop sewing...had to take care of a few regular weekend items...but it's been a good 75% sewing...so life is uber good!

Yesterday I got this quilt top put together:

Next up is basting it...have the backing fabric ready and waiting, just gotta see if I actually have the batting for it!

And now...the bag...the bag I am 100% in love with!  I have been slowly but surely working on it piece by piece since yesterday evening.  And I am just super excited!  Here it is:

Pattern: the vera bag by Green Bee Sewing Patterns
Fabric: Joel Dewberry Notting Hill Sateen (Kona Med. Gray lining)
Interfacing: Pellon 809
Thread: Aurifil
Happy factor: THROUGH THE ROOF!

Another look:

and the inside:

(LOVE THE POCKETS!)

This pattern was so easy to use.  And I am over the moon (if you couldn't tell) over how the bag looks! I can't wait to swap out from my current handbag to this one!  And a very good possibility I will make another with this pattern in different fabrics!

and next up...I think I am going to make a matching wallet using this pattern:

I'll let you know how it goes!

Weekend plans

We have had some absolutely stunning weather here lately...so it's kind of funny that I was excited to see a bunch of rain in the forecast!  Because that means I have the perfect excuse to stay inside, in my jammies and sew all weekend long!  Guy has to work, Girl will be at a slumber party, so it will just be me and the fabric!!!  (and the dogs, but they don't bother me much except when they try and sleep on my foot pedal!). 

I will be working on a few quilts (trying to knock down that UFO list, which would actually be much easier if I just stopped starting new projects, like the new quilt I will probably start this weekend).  And...make myself a new bag and maybe a matching wallet featuring these lovelies:

I'll show you the patterns I'm planning on using later...because I may still as change my mind on what bag to make.  But I've been dreaming about a new bag and as soon as I saw the above fabrics...I knew they would be perfect!

So that's all she wrote for now...gotta get some errands done so that I can get to sewing!

Me...Me..Me

actually...should be titled what I have been up to...and since that means we are going to talk about me...well, there ya go.

Anywho.  I kind of mentioned in yesterday's post that I was hoping to share more about what I was up to on Monday.  Well...Guy and I completed our first 5k!

  We ran with quite a few folks:

In a tribute run for Boston.  Guy and I have been diligently working on our running for about 9-10 weeks now, and it was time for a full on 5k with others.  It was completely unofficial, but it meant so much to us to do it on Monday.  It was the right time and the right place.

And now on to what else I've been up to.  Well I told you last week that I had finally ventured on to Craftsy and was trying out the Mastering Foundation Paper Piecing course by Carol Doak...and let me just tell you, the course is FANTASTIC!  Here is what I made after a few short lessons:

All my points match!!!  The tips that Carol gives throughout are excellent and I'm feeling so much more comfortable with paper piecing.  I'm only halfway through the course, so I am very excited to get to the next lessons!  I'm also now seriously considering signing up for some other Craftsy classes, but haven't decided which ones yet.  Any Craftsy classes you might recommend???

So that's all for right now...have a Duck Dynasty season finale to watch with the family...then might get  a workout in (or might not) and then it's time for some sewing!  Later!

15 minute challenge...week 41

Coming to you a little late this week, but here we go with the 15 minute challenge!

First the good news...I'm no longer on night shift!  We were able to finish up what we needed in one week, so I'm back to good ole daylight hours!

Bad news...well...none, just not a ton of sewing done!

Tuesday: none

Wednesday: none

Thursday: none

Friday: Lawn Chair and paper piecing

Saturday: paper piecing

Sunday: none

Monday: none (more on what I did on Monday later!)

So that's all she wrote!  2 of 7.  That's ok. Just a quick post, hope to be back more with later!

I'd say I'm a lover of stripping...

But that would just sound weird!  Because it's really just about the fact that I love some mindless strip piecing.

It was raining.  I also had CNN on, and can I just say, I'm so happy for the people of Boston right now.  And that I'm praying for the victims and families of the victims.  I hope they are all able to finally sleep tonight after a long and very trying week.  My brain was in overload.  But thanks to some strip piecing, and a little bit of cutting, I have this pretty pile:

Which puts me about 25% of the way through the two quilts I am making to send to Texas.   For now it's time to take a little break.  I do have these lovelies to ponder:

We had a class on paper piecing at Sew South (taught by the fabulous Jennifer), but I haven't done any paper piecing since then.  But I've wanted to!  So I picked up the books today.  And as I flipped through them, I was a little worried...so I decided to (finally) sign up at Craftsy and take some classes.  I'm enrolled in the Mastering Foundation Paper Piecing course (taught by Carol Doak), and I was all excited to be able to immediately review the videos.  However, minor issue.  No sound.  From ANY video on the Craftsy website.  And no response (yet) on what the problem may be.  And now that is fixed and can watch the vids from my computer!

Thankfully, I downloaded the Craftsy app to my iPad and able to view the videos and HEAR them!  So I'll let you know how the class works out for me!

My weekend plan...

Just a quick post, I'm sure I'll post more over the weekend (maybe even tonight), but had to share my weekend plan with you...

Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times has put out a call for quilts for the people of West, Texas.  You can read about the details here.

So my plan, is to make a pair of quilts to send to Judy:

So I'm off to get to work.  If you have a quilt you can share, please check out Judy's post and info and consider sharing some quilt love with the folks of West, Texas!

15 minute challenge...week 40

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time to check in with Kate and the 15 minute challenge.  I'm back on night shift for a week or two, so it's really hard for me to tell if I'm coming or going right now, so I best just get to it:

Tuesday:  Soda Shoppe

Wednesday: Soda Shoppe

Thursday: RWB

Friday: none

Saturday: Soda Shoppe

Sunday: Soda Shoppe

Monday: none

5 for 7, not too shabby.  I finished quilting Soda Shoppe on Sunday and now just need to make the binding and get it bound!  RWB is another quilt that has been hanging out in some form or another for awhile, so I'm hoping to get it finished and quilted soon.

It was difficult to leave the house yesterday for work, I really just wanted to stay at home with my family and just be with them.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Boston and all victims and their families.

UFOs on Parade...

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times to share my list of UFOs.  I am making this it's own Tab at the top of the page and I'll update through the rest of the year, I'm very curious to see how it stands at the close of 2013!

1. Deploy T
2. 2012 FQS Designer Mystery BOM
3. HST BOM
4. Terrain Swoon
5. Christmas Quilt
6. RWB Starburst
7. Our Quilt
8. Coming Home Ruby
9. Christmas Quilt
10. Scrappy Trip
11. Sisters Ten
12. FWQAL
13. Soda Shoppe
14. Marcelle Medallion
15. RWB

And to think...just last night I was trying to figure out what quilt I wanted to START next!  Even better...I've only been doing this for just over 2 years...heehee (NO ONE TELL GUY!) !

Road to completion...

Regarding last night's post, and some questions I received on the quilts-in-waiting...I figured it was time to make myself a list, and figure out what all needed to be done to finish the quilts.  Here goes:

1. Soda Shoppe - have all supplies to finish and I know how I want to quilt it
2. Terrain Swoon - need backing and binding fabric, need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it
3. Coming Home Ruby - need to decide what to use for backing (started making backing ages ago, not sure if I still like it) and binding
4. HST QAL - need to add final border, need backing and binding fabric and to figure out how to quilt
5. Christmas quilt - have backing and binding fabric, need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it
6. Scrappy Trip - need backing and binding fabric, and to figure out how to quilt

Not too shabby I guess.  Soda Shoppe will be completed first, as it is for Girl.  The others have no hard deadline as 5 of the 6 (if not all 6) will be staying with me.  HST QAL is mine...all mine.  Scrappy Trip will become a beach/picnic blanket. Terrain Swoon will probably be the last completed, because just the idea of quilting it scares the dickens out of me!  But I will get it done one day!  Ruby was originally a gift for someone, so I may still gift it to a person, but not the original recipient (took care of that already).  And Christmas Quilt is just to have a splash of something around Christmas time on the couch.

So there we go...we'll see how having this list as a ready reference works at clearing out the line!

number 6

Soda Shoppe is now number 6...as in the 6th quilt waiting to be basted, quilted and bound...

First up, a peek at how she looks as a quilt top:

and now...the quilts-in-waiting:

from left to right: Soda Shoppe, Terrain Swoon, Coming Home Ruby, HST QAL, Christmas quilt, and Scrappy Trip...

I think I know what I'll be working on the rest of this week...or maybe not...I could just keep adding to the list!

my claim

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Marcelle Medallion...Border 2 and 3

So excited to have finished up Border 2 this past weekend.  So many tiny pieces, but it took more time to cut them out than to actually put it together.  I will say that measuring every single step is the most important thing in this border.  I had some issues and had to do quite a bit of trimming (and still was off a little...but I'm plenty ok with that!!)...but in the end...I love the result!

Here is a pic with both borders on:

So easy to put #3 on, but it didn't quite line up (much like Border 2), so it's a bit off, but again, I'm ok with that.

I haven't started Border 4 yet, but part of that is I'm waiting on some fabric to arrive, particularly some pink pieces.  The other thing is, the next border is the flying geese, which I think looks fabulous, I'm just not sure I'm as excited to put it together!  I'll start laying out fabrics for it towards the end of the week, and work on it this weekend.

15 minute challenge...week 39

Happy Tuesday!  Spring has really sprung around these parts, and that has led to all kinds of "spring fever" in my house.  (As noted in the reconfiguring that was happening last week through the weekend).  It has also kicked my urge to be creative up several more notches...so let's check in with Kate and the 15 minute challenge to see how it all worked out!

Tuesday: OQ

Wednesday: none

Thursday: Marcelle Medallion

Friday: Marcelle Medallion

Saturday: Marcelle Medallion

Sunday: Marcelle Medallion, Soda Shoppe

Monday: Soda Shoppe

So we have another 6 of 7 week!  There were several days that I sat down for exactly 15 minutes...and then was off and running for something else.  Thankfully the pieced border that I was working on for my Marcelle Medallion quilt was lots of little pieces, so 15 minute chunks of time worked out perfectly.

To keep with the April theme of fostering creativity, Kate has asked questions today regarding knowing one's audience.  And to be perfectly honest, one of the things I worry about most when I am making a quilt specifically for someone, is that I hope they like it.  I may love it...but it's hard to know in advance if others will like that which they receive.  For the Soda Shoppe quilt, I let my daughter pic the main fabric (see yesterday's post for more info), but I picked the pattern.  It turns out she loves the pattern too, so it's all good.  For the stack of quilts I made for Christmas gifts, well it was a pull and shoot kinda thing.  Shake n Bake fabrics were selected because they were more masculine (all I knew was the recipient didn't want flowers), for the rainbow quilts, I figured if my daughter liked them, her cousins would too...and I was thankfully correct with that.  For Strawberry Swoon, the recipient has liked anything and everything I have ever made for her...so I knew no matter what, she would like the quilt.  For other quilts, like Layers of Good Fortune...I made the quilt with no intended recipient in mind...and ended up giving it to someone because they like the color purple.  I think with handmade gifts, more than anything, you have to know if the person would appreciate something handmade (some don't, and that's ok).  If they like something handmade, then there is almost no way to strike out on the quilt you make for them (as long as it's not something made in their least favorite colors!).  For my sister, whom I've made two quilts, I've tried to make her something that will match her furniture or living room colors, beyond that, it's whatever I choose to make.  In a selfish kind of way...I figure I'm making them something...so they best like it no matter what ;) !

the naming of a quilt

Soda Shoppe is what I'm calling the quilt I'm currently working on for my Girl.  When she wanted curtains, which resulted in painting her room, her wall color was inspired by fabric she chose for a new quilt...which I told her I'd make her if we painted her room...it all comes full circle.  I let her pick from my stash of Jelly Rolls and she selected Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille (LOVE this line!!!), so I suggested the gray wall color as she could coordinate ANYTHING with it!

Here is what Soda Shoppe currently looks like:

I am using a pattern by Samelia's Mum called Sugar Almonds.  I saw this on a random search of the world wide web a few days ago, and wanted to try it out. 

And now...how it was named...As I was putting the first pieces together, I couldn't help but admire the sweet colors of Vintage Modern...it kind of reminded me of a candy store.  Which for some reason made me think of the old Archie comics and Betty and Veronica.  Then I decided this quilt was definitely more a Betty than a Veronica...which some how got me thinking of the burger joint/soda shoppe that Archie and the gang used to hang out in...so then I really started to think of this quilt as having the colors of a soda shoppe...so I named it Soda Shoppe.  (Don't think on it too hard...even having to repeat my thought process left my head spinning a bit).

So there you go...how I went about naming a quilt. 

My Sewing Space

Has been moved!  Woohoo!  Mission accomplished!

Here are some pics:

(looking into the room)

My computer desk is on the left, the black basket in bottom left corner sits on top of my scrap storage bin.  Above the computer desk and sort-of visible is a peg board, where my scissors and rulers are stored.

There is a walk-in closet immediately to the left of the entry, and I stepped in there to take this pic:

The closet stores my other machines, quilts waiting to be quilted, and a bunch of scrapping/stamping stuff that I ended up keeping.

Another peek at the fabric storage area:

And the cutting area:

I repurposed that embellishment storage to hold thread, basting spray and some ribbon.  Under the cutting table is where I'm storing batting and pillow forms.  I won't be able to baste my quilts up here, so I'll still take them down to the living room where there is plenty of floor space.

So that's it!  I'm thrilled and so excited to get to work sewing in this room.  So that's what I'm going to do today.  Especially since I still have curtains and a new quilt for Girl to make.  I best get busy!

Pardon our dust...

...as we "remodel" a few things around my house!  Now...there is no "true" remodeling going on...but definitely some reconfiguring!  First up...Girl's room...

She asked me to make her curtains...I have never made curtains...but figured why not at least try...and then for whatever reason...I asked her if she wanted a new wall color...which THANKFULLY...led to us getting rid of this:

(Pepto Bismol pink...seriously!  which was, shockingly enough, a much lighter and more livable shade of pink than the neon version the walls were when we bought the house)

and starting over with this:

I'm very jealous of Girl's room...I wanted this color (or something similar) for my living room, so now I'll have to find something else!  Next up...finish coat #2...make a new quilt for her bed that goes with the new color...and make curtains.

But that's not all!  Since January of 2012 I have had a goal of moving my sewing space from the living room upstairs to my previous scrapping room/office.  And it didn't happen...so I made it a goal for 2013...and as of yesterday...we are making serious progress.  So serious in fact...much of my fabric has been relocated:

and construction begun on my new sewing table and cutting table!  (Old one  is too large to get up the stairs).  This goal will likely be crossed off by the end of the weekend!

and now...with sewing moving upstairs, opening up a bunch of space in the living room...it may be time to actually repaint the living room (shhh...don't tell Guy...he's NOT a fan of painting!).

So that's where we are on this Friday, sprinkled in saw dust and splattered with paint.  Hope your Friday is fabulous!

Revisiting an "old" WIP...

Haven't touched this particular project since oh...way back over here (approx. 19 months ago).  Wow.  After finishing up Rainbow Star and having threaded my machine with white, just to sew border 1 onto my Marcelle Medallion quilt, I figured why not pull out "Our Quilt" and see where I am on it.  I'd actually kind of forgotten how much was done/not done.  8 of 23 rows were done, with 6 sewn together, so I pulled everything out, and got to putting a few more together.  So here is where it stands now:

11 of 23 rows complete and sewn together!  Rows 12 and 13 in progress.  Hopefully I will finish this one up soon.  Of course all that means is that it can join the stack of quilts awaiting backing, basting and quilting.  (Just counted...there are 5 quilt tops in that category...).  But it will be one step closer to being completely finished!!!

15 minute challenge...week 38

Happy Tuesday, it's time for me to check in with Kate and the 15 minute challenge!

Tuesday:  none

Wednesday:  none

Thursday: duffel

Friday: Rainbow Star quilting

Saturday: Rainbow Star quilting, Marcelle Medallion

Sunday:  Rainbow Star binding, Marcelle Medallion, OQ

Monday: OQ

So, 5 for 7 this week, woohoo!  I enjoyed a finish this past week, a new start, and I'm revisiting an old project (more on that later). 

As part of the fostering creativity portion of the challenge, this week Kate discusses becoming an observer.  For me, if I wasn't an observer, I wouldn't challenge myself as much with new things.  The Marcelle Medallion quilt that I'm working on, I never would have tried if I hadn't seen other people's pictures and posts of their own quilts in progress.

That's all for now!  Girl is on Spring Break, and I took a few days off of work to spend some time with her.  Tomorrow we head to Charlotte to do some exploring!

Marcelle Medallion...Border 1

On this edition of my Marcelle Medallion...I added border 1:

Thankfully my medallion ended up just the right size, so that the border measurements given in the cutting instructions were spot on.  A funny story about the fabric for this border, it was originally supposed to become pajama pants during the class at Sew South.  However, I was busy working on my darn duffle, and ended up not making the pajama pants.  I was putting stuff away yesterday (shocker!!!) and had been auditioning fabrics for border 1...when I pulled this fabric out and it was a tah-dah moment!  

Now, I don't want this to turn into an overwhelmingly pink (or flowery) quilt...so I am not planning on there being any pink in Border 2.  I have already picked the fabrics and will start cutting them out later this week. 

That's all for now!