Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Green Tea and Sweet Beans BOM Update

I have been faithfully making these blocks!  I just took a look, and I have completed 7 of the 12 months.  And I've done some more blocks too!  Here are the ones that haven't been posted on the blog yet...

Month 6- Day Lily.  I liked this one, but for some reason it took me a long time to sew on the outside corners!
Month 6 - Day Lily

Month 7 - Flower Block.  These were fun!  I really liked the petals, even though they didn't turn out perfect.  I think they're cute!
Month 7 - Flower 1Month 7 - Flower 2Month 7 - Flower 3

Month 7 - Igloo. I absolutely love these blocks. The round parts gave me fits, but I think they turned out well.
Month 7 - Igloo 1Month 7 - Igloo 2

Month 8 - Applique Block #2. This one took me FOREVER. I think I decided I didn't like applique or something..
Month 8 - Applique Block #2

Month 9 - Berry Basket. I completed this one even though I didn't finish the second block for Month 8. I have been looking forward to this block since the BOM started! I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that the pot fabric wasn't the same as the original (it's orangey in the original) but I think the blue pot fits as well.
Month 9 - Berry Basket

I have a couple of blocks that should be finished soon, but hopefully there will be another Green Tea and Sweet Beans update soon!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Simple accomplishments

Chris gave me my Christmas present early.  He got me a Kindle Fire!  It's very exciting.  I like it a lot, especially since I can use one hand to hold it.  I decided to make a pouch for it while deciding which case to buy... and this is what I ended up with:

Amazon Kindle Fire Case 
Sorry for the bad photo, but this little pouch caused me so much trouble!  I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's good enough.  This is iteration #3.  Most of the other troubles were from the zipper.  After I sewed the zipper in, the opening was too small to put the kindle in!

I am pretty happy with it though.. it's fleece inside and I really like how I made a pocket for the earphones.  The quilting (to the batting) took a long time but I think it was worth it.  It now can sit at the bottom of my purse without worrying about it getting dirty.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A couple tanks..

I finished up this Colette Sorbetto tank top this morning.
Colette Sorbetto FrontColette Sorbetto Back
I made a size 4 and I'm pretty happy with it. I used some fabric I got at an estate sale a few years ago and I made the bias binding out of navy blue linen.I really enjoyed how quickly this came together, and I like how the bust darts are in the right place (i think!)  It's a bit less loose than I imagined it would be, so I might make a size up next time, but the top area fits great.  It's definitely a bit too short for my liking, so I'd lengthen it.  For this one you were supposed to hem the bottom but I wanted to keep that extra length so I used bias tape on the bottom too.  I want to try adding sleeves too!

After I made this top I remembered the Wiksten Tank Top that I made a few months ago that I never blogged about...
Wiksten Tank FrontWiksten Tank Back
So both tanks are loose fitting tank tops, but there definitely were differences.  No bust darts here and the armholes are finished by folding under.  Not sure which one I prefer yet. I used quilting weight fabric for this one, so the seams are a little bit bulky (instructions have you create french seams for the sides).  I like the curved bottom hem.  It covers up my behind when I crouch!  The neckline might be a little too low and I might try a size larger with this one next time too.  I've already worn this out a few times and regardless of the unflattering photo, I think it looks ok.  This one definitely took more time because of the hems.  Bias tape is so quick!

So the real reason why I made the Sorbetto is that I wanted to get a Colette pattern under my belt before I joined the Colette Clover Pants Sew Along.  I'm pretty excited.  I cut out a size 8 for the pants because I basically have no waist, but I'm a bit nervous because I also have no butt.  We'll see how this works out...

Thursday, October 6, 2011

I climbed Diamond Mountain!

Completed Diamond Mountain Quilt Top!

What an accomplishment for me!  I completed this top for Lizzy House's Diamond Mountain Quilt-along.  The pattern is in her lovely book, and the fabrics are all from her 1001 Peeps line.  I usually don't like to make something exactly the same as someone else, but this quilt was so so so so fantastic that I had to make it exactly the same.  LOVE the colors.  I really like Lizzy's style.. new modern fabrics with classic quilt patterns reimagined in a new way.  I sound like a school girl with a crush.  Sorry.

Anyway, this quilt uses this ruler, and it was great.  I can't imagine using a template to cut out all those triangles.  The fabrics kept the quilt interesting enough to get all the way through and finish the quilt.  I am SO happy.  Kaleidoscope quilts may be my new favorite type of quilt to make.

I have some Hobbs Fusible batting on order.  Still deciding on what fabric to do for the backing... I'm thinking the Ice Frappe Kona Cotton.  I do love the Orange Scheherazade print but I think the minty green will be a nice contrast to the bold top.  Hmmm...

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

New Baby Quilts!

I've been busy making baby quilts but was just reminded that I haven't posted about any of them.  You might have seen them in my flickr stream, but here they are!
Modern Crosses Baby Quilt
Mitered crosses back
This first one is a modern crosses baby quilt from Modern Log Cabin Quilting.  I really love this book!  I altered the blocks so they are slightly larger than the pattern.  I sewed the rows and tacked down the center of the crosses, but I don't think I like how the finished quilt looks.  I think I like more all over quilting.  I definitely will make this quilt again, but will definitely stick to the pattern recommended size and maybe quilt the blanket some more.  The fabric is some kona cotton gray that I messed up in cutting, some pink that didn't make the cut for my Civil War Diaries quilt, and a little bit of Munki Munki (on the back) that I bought when I first started quilting.
 completed spiderweb quilt
The next baby quilt is a spiderweb quilt!  I love these, but this is the first one I've completed.  I finished it in one week!  I used this pattern, and it was great.  I pressed the seams open since there are so many seams.  LOVE this quilt, and the baby's parents love it too.  Yay. The fabric is the robots fabric by David Walker for Free Spirit.

Odyssea quilt front
Odyssea quilt back

Next is a quilt I made for my coworker.  She didn't know if her baby was a boy or girl, so hopefully this quilt is gender neutral enough!  I  based it on this pixel quilt from Spool Sewing.  I plan on making the Spool Sewing quilt as a wedding gift for another friend, so this quilt was a nice test run.  Fabric is Odyssea by Momo for Moda.
Disappearing nine patch baby quilt
Next came a quilt for a family friend who was expecting a boy.  This one is a disappearing nine patch quilt, but I took the layout of the squares from another Spool Sewing quilt.  They called it the magic quilt.  I don't deny that this quilt was quick, but I think I like more structured and symmetrical patterns.  For this one I used one of the Pink Chalk Fabrics solids bundle plus the gray.
Boy half square triangle quilt frontBoy half square triangle quilt back
This quilt was for a boy for my mom's childhood neighbor's daughter (who had a son).  This is made of half square triangles and I based the layout on Rita's half square triangle quilt.  It's made from Holly Holderman's Oh Boy! fabric line for Lakehouse Dry Goods.  I didn't mind making this quilt, but all that trimming! 

Zig zag babyZig zag baby back
Next is a zig zag quilt.  I used Anna Maria Horner's pattern, and I'm not sure if I liked making it this way.  I do like that the zig zags are not as broken up as if I had made it with half square triangles or rectangles.  In the end the mom of the baby and the grandma loved this quilt, so I guess it was worth it!  The fabrics are Anna Maria Horner (blue flowery on front) Heather Bailey (orange) Urban Loft 1800 (blue flowery backing) Essex cotton (white) and some Kaffe Fassett shot cottons (pink and yellow).

There is one more quilt that I made for my niece (yay for niece, but whoops no photos!) and a quilt top I just finished, but those will be blogged about soon.  Maybe.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

this & that

thisthat
Finishing up this so I don't feel so guilty about starting that...

Monday, February 21, 2011

Orange you glad...

Lion dancingPillow made for me by Cousin

Isn't it nice when you look through your photos and they seem to have a theme? 

I really love vignette.  I also really love the pillow my cousin made for me.  And Lion Dancing?  Never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Outdoor Chickens

2011-02-15-19-56-08-154-orig
My chickens are all grown up!  Kind of.  They're almost 14 weeks old, and have been living indoors.  They now have a fancy new coop that Chris built.  Unfortunately it's super windy and rainy tonight... good luck chickies!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Happy 2011!

Lucy dreaming
Well, at least Lucy is consistent with how I've been feeling about my blog lately...

My poor neglected blog.  Obviously things around here need to change.  I wrote a huge long post, only to reread it and think "who cares?"  From now on I'm going to try to blog more, perhaps with just a photo and a few words.

Some happenings to get you up to date: