2013

Oh 2013, you kicked my butt.  This was a wonderful but tough year for my little family. Despite getting adjusted to a family of four, I still somehow managed to sew some stuff.  Sometimes sewing is what kept me sane through some stressful, sleep deprived times.  Some projects I started and actually finished this year, others were projects I started in previous years.  

I don't have pictures of all of my 2013 finishes yet.  Taking timely pictures and sharing them here is a 2014 resolution of mine.  I want to document the things I make so I can look back and remember the time I put into a project, what was going through my head when I was making it, etc.  Life gets busy and it's so easy to forget the things that at one time consumed large amounts of you (physical time making it as well as the time spent thinking about it!).  This blog is a great sewing journal and I want to keep it up.

So here is a list of things I finished in 2013:

1. Swoon (started in 2012)
2. Ironing board cover
3. Stars and squares

4. Nora's baby quilt (details coming)

5. Teddy's baby quilt (details coming)

6. Baby bibs

7. Doll quilt 

8. Scrappy Trip Around the World (details coming)

9. Elsa's baby quilt (details coming)

10. Stacked coins quilt (details coming)
 

Not bad for a working mom with two kids under two! 

Quick Quilt Recommedation?

Recent Favorites, a photo by CreativeReveries on Flickr.

1. Fig & Plum Quilt, 2. "You Plus Me" Quilt, 3. Glam Clam front, 4. striped chevron quilt, 5. Log Cabin Wall Quilt, 6. fall tabler runner, 7. Maple Leaf Rag Quilt, 8. my fair lady quilt, 9. flying geese mini, 10. Untitled, 11. XandO quilt, 12. PTS7 all finished!, 13. It's hip to be square, 14. HST BOM - January, 15. DIamond Quilt, 16. bee blocks

I'm trying to catch up on some very overdue wedding quilts. If over a year has gone by since the wedding, I really have no choice but to make a quilt, right? I mean, I can't just show up with a gift card and say "Congratulations on your marriage of two and a half years!"

So I have two weddings quilts at the top of my list of things to make. I want a quick project, you know, so I can move on to the quilts in the queue I want to keep for myself (selfish sewer?  Absolutely!). I love how quickly the stacked coins quilt sews up from "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilting," but I've made it twice now (here and a preview of one here) and I want to try something different. Anyone have any recommendations for a quick quilt project?

Head down, chin up

Life is slightly more crazy than usual at the moment, yet I've carved out time to sew.  It's the only thing keeping me sane at the moment; that and coffee. Oh, and let's not forget wine.  My friends, we've got the terrible two's happening at my house.  Combined with a bad cold.  It's not been fun.  So as soon as that little girl's head hits the pillow, I start sewing.  Sometimes with an adult beverage in hand.

I needed something quick and mindless to sew so I pulled out two charm packs of the now out-of-print Uptown line by Erin Michael and some sashing in Kona cotton Stone. This quilt is heavily based on the beautiful charm square quilt by Don't Call Me Becky from many years ago.

Row by row I sewed.  This kind of sewing is so cathartic.  The kind where you don't have to think too much.  Unfortunately I didn't think enough and ran out of Kona  cotton.  Darn.  I guess I'll have to buy more fabric.  Darn darn darn (she jokes, she jokes!).

Something small

Ok, so it's only a doll quilt.  But, it's something!  Something I finished! Celebrate the small things in life, right?

I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head lately about sewing and being over inspired and trying to "keep up." I'm hoping I can find the right words at some point to put them down.  But not right now.  I'll just start small right now.  

Currently

I’ve been quilting this stacked coins quilt off and on this past weekend. It’s going to take me all week because because I am slow and I don't have much free time, but…I am enjoying it! I think this is the first time I have truly enjoyed the actual process of quilting. So often I get a quilt top finished, sandwiched, and then I’m rushing to quilt it to get it done because of a deadline or a general desire for the finished product. But this time is different. This quilt has been sitting around, already sandwiched and pinned for well over a year. I felt so-so about this quilt top, didn’t know how I wanted to quilt it, and was unmotivated to finish it.

Until last week. I needed a break from the scrappy trip along quilt and decided to pull this out and quilt it without thinking too much (ie, straight-line quilting). Two strange things happened: First, I like this quilt again. Second, the straight-line quilting is so cathartic. I’m just enjoying every minute I have at the sewing machine, sewing line after line and watching them slowly take shape over the top.

Look what the mailman brought

Just a little stack of some Briar Rose yumminess today.  I have no idea when I'll be able to cut into this.  I have four other quilts I need to finish before I touch this stack.  I'll not have you believe that I am just disciplined like that.  The truth is I don't have space in my little (cozy?) rowhouse to accommodate another work-in-progress.  Ho hum! 

Swoon

Swoon.  She is mine and I love her.

I fell in love with this quilt pattern by the first time I saw it.  This was also around the same time that Denyse Schmidt released her flea market fancy legacy collection.  Again, love at first (or second release?) sight.

Nevermind that I had such little time to sew with a young baby and another on the way. Perhaps that's why when I finished all the blocks, I decided I didn't want to bother with the sashing; I just wanted this done already!  I actually really like the plus and diamond shapes the white background makes without the sashing.  

I cut all of the fabrics for each block at once and then just sewed one block at a time.  Sew, press, sew, press.  My points aren't perfect, but that's ok.  If I were a perfectionist, I could not be a quilter.  I would drive myself crazy.  Instead, I embrace those mistakes like designer's elements.

I backed it with kona cotton aqua.  I love this color.  It's so light and airy.  For the quilting, I did simple straight-lines about an inch apart.

I started this in the spring 2012, finished quilting it in summer 2012, and finally binded it in winter 2013.  I think this will go on the Bug's big-girl bed when she transitions out of her crib.  Apparently this may be soon as she has been requesting a pink big-girl bed for a few weeks now (and pink car, pink house, pink windows, etc etc). 

Pattern: Swoon Quilt by Thimble Blossoms

Fabrics: Mainly Flea Market Fancy Legacy by Denyse Schmidt, Backing in Kona Cotton Aqua

Everyday sewing: Bibs

Not a whole lot to say today.  My boy has a big neck and store-bought bibs are hard to get around those juicy jowls of his.  So, mama to the rescue (or sewing machine that is)!   Cotton animal prints on one side, chenille on the other.  I just traced a big bib I had already on hand.  Easy peasy.  It feels good to do some everyday sewing. 

Weekend snapshots

Just some snapshots from the weekend.

How was your weekend?

Skip Hop Jump

Skip, hop, jump.  That's how I feel when I look at this quilt.  It makes my heart happy.  This was the first quilt I completed after the bug was born.  I remember some sleepless nights when I would just go into my sewing room (which is now the bee's room) and cut and cut. Sew and sew. 

Isn't it funny how babies do things we'd like to do without any inhibitions?  Like roll around on a snuggly quilt in pure delight as their mommy tries to photograph it.

I used the Skip Hop Jump pattern from Denyse Schmidt's Quilts and fabric from Sweetwater's Hometown line, with a few other red fabrics from my stash.  I'd love to make this again someday, but might just wing it instead of using the templates. It's supposed to be a freeform quilt afterall.    

This was a wedding present for some dear friends of ours.  They had the most beautiful, intimate wedding weekend in the mountains which I feel honored to have been a part of.  I completed this quilt in July 2012 and they were married in 2010.  Luckily my friends didn't seem to mind the late present. 

Eye candy Thursday

There are few things more delicious than a stack of homemade quilts.  Well, maybe ice cream.  Chocolate ice cream to be exact.  I'll post more about each of these quilts soon.  And yes, that is Swoon on the bottom there...

I'm a latecomer to Instagram, but now I can't stop.  Talk about eye candy!  I'm CreativeReveries if you'd like to follow me over there.

Psss...I'm sharing this handmade pile of goodness today over at My Quilt Infatuation!

DIY Ironing Board Cover

I'm somewhat embarrassed to share this project with you.  My ironing board cover was a pretty sad sight for a long time: scorch marks, holes, etc.  It was long past the point of needing a new cover.  Evidence:

I tried to buy a new cover, but couldn't find one to fit this oversized board (oh extra wide ironing board, how I love thee).  So I used this tutorial and now have this pretty thing:

Guess what?  It was as easy as the tutorial claims!  I did flip the board over to cut out the fabric, but that step is simple.  Now I am kicking myself (not really, don't worry) for not making this sooner!

Katie Jump Rope

Thank you all for the comments on my last post, reminding me that quilting is about the process, not always the end (though the end is so nice).

I put aside the scrappy trip quilt this weekend and picked up another work in progress, my Katie Jump Rope quilt.  Did anyone else hoard this fabric?  I splurged on a fat quarter set several years ago and then it sat and sat - I was waiting for the perfect project for this.

When I found out I was pregnant with the  bee last year, I knew this was the perfect fabric for his eventual big boy bed.  This will just be a simple square within square twin-sized quilt. I figure I have a good two years before I need to actually finish this one.  Plenty of time, unless of course his big sister claims it first!

Psss...I'm sharing this over at A Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.  Go check it out!

Slow

Geesh.  This quilt feels like it is taking me forever.  I thought it was supposed to be quick!  Everyone is either lying about the speed of putting this together or else I am just very, very slow.  I have faith in humanity so it really must be me and the fact that I am spending at least half of my limited free time reading The Game of Thrones (oh my god so good) and another one quarter of it planning the next quilt I want to make.  You know, because I don't already have four quilts in progress and I have so much free time.  Right.  

Divide and conquer

Do you break up tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks of units too?  I do this with many things - running (ok, i just started doing this again, but still), working, cleaning, quilting.  My scrappy trip around the world will consist of 36 blocks total.  I've completed 8 so far. Last night I started working on 12 more.  Slowly inching along...but that hasn't stopped me from thinking about how I will quilt this bad boy.  Any suggestions?

Balance

I wanted to write about all the reasons why I don't sew much these days.  Why I don't come here very often.  I'll give you two.  

 The bug

The bee

Tell me, how do you find time to do things to feed your soul?  How do you carve out a space in your day/week/month for just you?  

Stars and squares

With two little ones in tow, it's almost impossible to find a moment to breathe some days, let alone sew.  But it makes me happy.  So I try to fit it on those rare days when I am not completely exhausted.  

I decided the Bee had to have another quilt after he was born.  I had been wanting to try scrappy stars for a while.  They were fun and "quick" to make.  I'd love to make a whole quilt with them someday.

I started this when the Bee was a few weeks old, and finished it before he started crawling.  I call that a success.

Deets:  Stars and Squares baby quilt

Size: 42x42ish

Fabrics: Lucy's crab shack charm packs, Kona white solid

Wavy line quilting inspiration

Via Flickr: 1. Amazing wavy line quilting by @angelafmq #quiltcon, 2. wavy quilt lines, 3. wavy line quilting, 4. Aye Aye Captain Quilt

Remember this quilt? It's been sitting, already basted, and patiently waiting to be quilted over a year later. There was little hope in sight of it being completed any time soon. I just could not decide how to quilt it. Then I started seeing some wavy line quilting around the internet and the inspiration struck. Hope may be in sight afterall.

Make me feel better. How many projects have you let sit uncomplete (but oh so close!) for over a year?

WIP Wednesday

My two year old often asks to run outside and yell "Ahhhhhhh" with her friend Ella B.  Doesn't that sound fun?  I would love to just run around and scream with delight with no inhibitions these days.  Talk about a great stress relief. 

Instead, I try to find a little time to quilt. 

Current .project (until I get distracted by something else): scrappy trip around the world.

Oh, hello

Oh, hello there. I've been a little busy since I last posted. Meet my latest two creations. Mr. F, born on Christmas Day and his quilt top, which I hope to finish sometime before he learns to crawl. Tick tock, tick tock Steph!