A Boy and His Quilt…

I actually finished these quilts in time for Christmas, it just took me a long time to take pictures. As you can see, I still haven’t trimmed the threads on the one. You can do that when it’s for a 3 year old. He gave me a huge hug when he opened it. I don’t remember his exact words, but lets just say it made all the time invested more than worth it.

I actually made the quilt top of the train quilt several years ago. I intended it for a duvet, but I decided that wiggly sleepers and duvet covers don’t mix. I don’t know what that kid was doing, but the comforter was always ending up seperate from the cover. I have been meaning to make it into a quilt for a long time and it feels good to finally be done. I made this for J, my 6 year old son, who is a train fanatic. I did run into problems with the binding though. I would love some advice. I did the cheater, pull the back to the front binding, which I have done before. But the batting is getting all folded up inside, if that makes sense. I didn’t think you HAD to quilt right up to the edge of the quilt, but now I’m wondering if you do? I used Warm and Natural, if that matters. Quilt masters, now would be a great time to comment!

The Fireman quilt is for JJ (the 3 year old). I used this fabric, which I fell in love with at the quilt store. I have never made such a big quilt before and it was a challenge on my little machine (it’s 3/4 size). I did stippling (or meandering…or something!) for the first time with both these quilts and I loved it! Not that they are anywhere perfect, of course. But I had fun doing it and I think it looks cute. A public service announcement, though. Don’t use Joann’s red flannel unless you’ve washed it at least 10 times first! It ran all over the quilt, which of course I dried without noticing. Thankfully, I have got lots of advice on how to fix it which hopefully will work! I didn’t use a pattern for either quilt. I wanted to show as much of the firemen fabric as I could, so I tried to chose a layout that would do that.

In other news, did you see that Grosgrain is now giving away women’s clothing?! How cool is that! Anna Maria is doing a giveaway too.

Also, you have to check out the sweet quilt my little sister made. I think it’s awfully cute.

House Cleaning….

No, not that kind of house cleaning, though I’m in desperate need of that too….my house is a wreck! I’m talking about the blog kind. Projects I’ve forgotten to show, wonderful things I’ve received, etc.

 

Leslie from A Friend to Knit With had some extra yarn after finishing a project. I know I would have been stingy and kept it all to myself. But being much less selfish than I, she sent a skein my way. It is so pretty and I can’t wait to use it. The fact that all I can knit right now is a scarf is sort of holding me back. Note….I am going to try and stop apologizing for my horrid pictures. I will NOT apologize that this picture was taken at 4am and doesn’t do this yarn any justice.

I love books….my husband teases me that books are the other man in my life. I have a hard time not reading….even the cereal box at breakfast. So new books are a real treasure. I got several for Christmas, plus one more that I picked out myself with a Joanns gift card, also from Christmas. I’m very excited to try some new projects. I’m a little worried about Printing by Hand though. Do I really need to start a whole new catagory of craft items to purchase?!

 Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin

Seams to me by Anna Maria Horner

Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol

Baking Artisan Bread by Ciril Hitz

 

I finished this bag a while back in a trade with an artist friend. She made my new Etsy banner and business cards and I made her a diaper bag (she’s expecting her first in May!). I have a love/hate relationship with this bag. Most of it I LOVE, but there are a few things than annoy me. It doesn’t stand up as nicely as I would like and I wasn’t able to do a nice padded pocket for her laptop. The color in the above photo is way off….it is a really pretty shade of green. The other pics are closer, but still not quite right.

My Bernina is a real trooper and I love her, but she just hasn’t got enough muscle sometimes and I think if I had interfaced the bag like I would have liked, there would have been no way she could have sewn through all those layers of canvas. And she really got angry when I tried topstitching the laptop pocket! I think I will have to bite the bullet someday and get an older machine  to handle the tougher projects. I love the color  my friend chose for the outside of that bag and I love, love, love the japanese fabric on the inside. It’s the first real project I’ve done with japanese fabric (other than a crayon roll) and it was so fun using such a beautiful fabric.

The nitty-gritty…self drafted, canvas outer, japanese import guaze lining, one zipped inner pocket, two elastic bottle pockets, large divider, random pleats.

Looking Ahead….

It’s been almost one year, 115 posts, 387 comments and many yards of fabric sewn (and even more bought!). I’ve discovered that I like blogging much more than I thought I would when I started this blog to try to promote my Etsy shop. I’m not so sure it’s been a great help on that front, but I know I do plan on continuing this blog, shop or no shop. There’s such a great online community of crafters….so much inspiration, help, and encouragement.
I have lots of ideas and plans for the coming year….lots of sewing, maybe learning to knit (!?), organizing, new things for my shop, and lots more.
First on my list was joining Wardrobe Refashion. I’ve been trying to not buy much clothing anyway….just knits, jeans, socks, stuff like that. So I figured, I might as well jump in. I’m hoping it doesn’t start for a couple days, though, because tomorrow we’re headed to the big city for my birthday. I don’t plan on buying anything, but I’d like to keep that option open should the opportunity present itself! I signed up for four months. I probably will honestly mostly be sewing things for myself from fabric, not repurposing. But that still counts for something, right? Come join us! I think it’s going to be fun!

I just finished up this skirt and blouse for me. I think I’m going to redo the neckline….I’m just not sure what I’m going to do. It doesn’t lay right, even though you can’t tell in the picture. I drafted the top based on a blouse that I own. I really love the original blouse and I would love to be able to get a better copy of it. I got to use some hem tape from the stash I got from my Grandma to trim the bottom of the skirt. It was a perfect match and I love getting to use my Grandma’s things.

I’ll be posting pics of the two Christmas quilts as soon as I take them. They weren’t perfect (not even close!), but the boys loved them and that’s the important thing.