new beginningsI

It seems fitting that I'm returning after almost a year-long hiatus to blog a baby quilt and shower. I hope that this will be a new beginning for me with this blog just like the weekend was about celebrating the impending arrival of a new life. I didn't mean to be away so long; life kind of had her way with me, however. I was not at all sad to see 2013 transition into the new year, but I am immensely excited for all the love and fun that 2014 will bring!

Chief among them is the arrival of my niece or nephew next month.  To celebrate, I threw my sister in law a party. Full of awesome bites, easy games and handmade presents. See for yourself!

Our wedding bunting, still useful and cheerful!

The food table. We like to eat when we party!

Still using those vintage sheet cloth napkins!

Games and handmade vintage sheet goody bags!

Baby shower guest art. Each guest took a rainbow ray to write a blessing/prayer/hope for the baby.

I must confess, I am really proud of the way this original idea turned out!

The baby quilt I made for my niece or nephew - front.

A closer look at all those triangles.

Love this detail on the backing!

The back of the baby quilt.

So proud of this binding job. I am also now IN LOVE with clover wonder clips.

It has been some time since I quilted with new cotton fabrics (instead of vintage sheets). I'm loving the crinkle!

Too many photos of binding?

My sister in law and baby!

It was a great weekend and a great excuse to sit back down at my sewing machine. I did need to take a nice long nap on Sunday after church, but hopefully I'll be back soon with more sewing updates.

daddy's quilt

Daddy's quilt

This was a long time coming!

Mark and Moses enjoying the quilt before it's washed and mailed.

I 'gave' this quilt to my father for Christmas the first year Mark came home to Texas with me (2010).  At that time, it was a pieced quilt top and that was it.  Needless to say, my father was less than impressed with my unfinished gift.

Moses knows it's not for him...

I brought it back home to DC with me and it sat for a good long while on my shelf collecting dust.  Eventually (I don't remember when), I got around to doing the quilt sandwich and started stitching.  But my straight lines weren't straight and the quilt was doing that horrible shifty thing quilts sometimes do.  In frustration, I stuck it away for another long period of time.

Last fall, I finally dug it out again and spent several hours with my seam ripper.  I re-basted the quilt and then started the stitches again with my walking foot, this time, smooth as buttah. I bound it, washed it and mailed it to my dad this last Christmas.

I'm so glad it's finally done!  

I quilted dense straight lines across the white sashing approximately 1/4" apart.

The fabrics in this quilt are very meaningful to me.  I am certain most quilters have favorite fabrics that they love to work with. These blue batiks are cut from a few meters that I truly consider some of my most prized possessions. I purchased the fabric from a market in Yogyakarta when I lived in Indonesia almost 7 (!) years ago.  They were probably the most beautiful thing I brought home with me!  I'm sure you can find batik fabric online and in stores that is also lovely, but I still remember haggling with the vendor, adding more meters to drive the price down, stretching my Indonesian language skills, working my mental math muscles as quickly as possible in the dappled sunlight.  These hand printed batiks will be very slowly portioned out for only the most special projects until I can kembali (return) to Indonesia some day!

I love the fact that the quilting isn't perfect.

Although I was afraid I mailed it too late to arrive in time for Christmas, it did finally arrive on time (after being two years late, that is).  Anyway, my dad knows it was worth the wait!

keeping the back simple with a soft solid white sheet.

I got creative and quilted two concentric squares in each individual batik piece.  It was a little bit of a bear to keep rotating the quilt, but I was so happy with the finished product that it was totally worth it.

you can see the quilting I did in each of the squares between rows of sashing.

We couldn't get to Houston last year, my first Christmas away from my family (besides the one I spent in Indonesia). As Mark says, a quilt is like a warm hug.  I hope my dad feels that when he lays in his recliner under this quilt at night to watch TV.

happy quilt!

I was glad to see my dad using his quilt during my visit to Houston.  It is already well-loved!

love you, Daddy!  

ditty bags. da dum dum dum.

ditty bag.

I recently purchased Michellepatterns Ditty Bag pattern.  I love it!  It is a well-written pattern, the final product is super cute and I am using it on my trip to Texas right now.  The large size (the pattern comes with three) is perfect for the Ziploc of 3oz liquid items I am carrying in my purse (and lotion/ointment prescriptions, joy).  Plus, Michelle frequently has sales, including a $5 Friday deal every week.  Score!

I whipped this up last weekend relatively quickly.  Let’s call it my recovery project from the baby quilt last week?  A fast finish that makes me feel like a winner (WINNING!).  Although I love the ditty bag pattern and can see why it was written the way it was written, I’ve got some thoughts on how I would sew them up the next time.  One of these days, I plan to get into selling sewn goods at craft fairs.  So it wouldn’t hurt to have some notes on sewing up a bunch at once.

this bag has such a great shape!

Fusible interfacing is the way this bag holds its shape so well.  In the instructions, you are to cut out a certain number of each pattern piece in both exterior, interior fabrics and interfacing.  The next time I do this, I will fuse the interfacing to the fabric and then cut out the patterns—instead of cutting out and then fusing.  I think this will help my borders be cleaner and the ditty bag’s construction more precise.

it looks so professional to me!

Speaking of the pattern, I understand why the pattern is drafted to be cut on the fold.  It’s easier to print the pieces and requires less paper/cardstock.  I hate cutting on the fold, however.  My fabric always shifts.  And really, even the largest finished ditty bag is not that big.  I will create a full size pattern piece next go round.  This will increase the speed, and even allow me to cut out more than one at a time (with rotary cutter no less)!

I used canvas as the interlining to give the back of the bag a nice stiffness.  I would definitely do this again.  This will eventually help me get through my large collection of duck cloth.  I’ll just have to remember not to use a patterned/colored interlining if the fabrics are thin.

I used a DS Quilts for Joann's fabric for the exterior and a red and white gingham from my stash for the interior.

I love the strap!  It’s the best feature.  But, it’s barely long enough to fit over a door handle, and I anticipate hanging my bag up when I travel.  I am also planning to make a ditty bag for Moses’s brushes and doggy bags so we’re not always wondering where those went?  It would be great if the handle were long enough to fit around my wrist, so I could carry it more easily (like when Moses is going on an overnight doggy adventure).  The pattern also did not call for this to be interfaced, but I did and I would definitely do that again.

I think it's red and green with out reading "Christmas".

It would be cute to add some kind of pull to the zipper.  Maybe a jump ring with a bead attached?  It could also be done with embroidery floss when the opening is whip stitched shut.  I should work on my whip-stitching!

A last note to self: find your dang straight pins.  Pinning would have helped keep things aligned and saved time. 

Can’t wait to churn out some additional ditty bags in vintage sheets!  After all, they are my very favorite thing to sew with.  I bet a small ditty bag would be perfect for jewelry when traveling.  I stooped to dropping my jewelry in a pocket in my purse this trip.  Ah well, I can always be better prepared next time

All zipped and ready to go!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} ritual from Soulemama

wonky stars

quilt blocks are out... Moses' homing beacon. 

I swear he hears me laying the fabric on the ground.

only ever more comfortable after the blocks are pieced.

Months ago, I began experimenting with quilting wonky stars.  I have a significant number of vintage sheet scraps and an even larger collection of vintage sheets from which to cut.  I've seen several wonky star blocks on pinterest and started with a few blocks just to try something new.  Well, I ended up liking the blocks more than I anticipated.  Instead of using my blocks as hot pads or saving them for a larger project (no more bed quilts, please!), before I knew it I had half of a baby quilt.

all pieced and sandwiched and ready to (finish) quilt(ing).

Each year, the staff where I work host an enormous garage-type sale.  We collect donations for a few days, then the staff volunteer to price and arrange everything the day before the sale.  Usually, the prices are really low.  We also host a corresponding bake sale and silent auction.  The auction is a combination of promised items and the higher end donations we receive.  All proceeds benefit the students via student book scholarships.

After getting the hang of the wonky stars, I committed to a baby quilt for the auction.  I finished the blocks and the quilt top relatively quickly... and then set way too high expectations for the quilting!

all done, with a beautiful drape.

I decided to do a dense free motion quilting pattern I hadn't really done or tried in years.  I had just gotten the hang of this on a much larger quilt (that is still unfinished) waaay back in 2006.  Of course I haven't touched it since then.  And I have a different machine than I did back then, too.  So it was more than a little new.

folds nice and square, too.

It took me hours, but I am so. pleased. with the way the quilt turned out.  It was great FMQ practice, I got a confidence boost in actually finishing a project, and the quilt went for $70.00 in the silent auction.

finished front.

finished back.

Probably needless to say, Moses loved the finish product, too.

sorry, Moses.  not for you.

no, really Moses.  we can't keep it.

There's probably a limit on how many photos I should post of my dog, quilts that I make and combinations of those two.  However, it always feels like a finished project doesn't happen all that often, so indulge me.  These are some of my favorite blocks.  I realized after I was done that the best looking blocks were those that had high contrast stars to background.

love that blue hatch sheet.

bought this vintage sheet FQ from elegantitus months ago. so hard to find purples.

so, technically the green fabric wasn't a vintage sheet.  but it was a repurposed sheet from the thrift store. :)

When I was making the blocks, I started with a patterned background and a white star.  Then, with each new block, I utilized the background fabric to form the new star, creating kind of a chain of matching/coordinating blocks.  Then on my last block, I used a white background with a pattern star.  You can totally move from block to block and see the order I finished them.

the coordinating blue star to match the blue background block above.

FMQ close-up

Although it was a lot of work and I don't have my next FMQ project lined up, I am looking forward to trying it again.  I can't wait to give other patterns a try.

Moses, ever hopeful. He even brought a ball!

paper pieced pillow

...say that three times fast!

So... awhile ago, I wanted to try paper piecing and I made this:

the Lone Starburst

Although it was a little difficult to get the hang of the paper piecing, I loved it.  Absolutely necessary to have the Add a Quarter Ruler, which I do, thanks to my sister and brother in law (thanks, Ash! thanks, Josh!) who gave me a whole set for Christmas!

What I love about paper piecing is that you can utilize scraps really well while paper piecing small sections, such as with the Lone Starburst pattern (free for download, too).  I underestimated the size scraps I would need many times while adding a piece, but I think with practice I could get better about estimating scrap size.

I didn't want to commit to piecing additional blocks for a quilt (plus, I have several quilts in progress right now and do not need another one), so I turned my single block into a pillow cover.

pillow cover!

I got "creative" with my quilting.  This creativity might backfire after several washes... I did backstitch a few stitches each time I began and stopped, but I think I still risk the quilting coming out over time.

the stitches make it look more interesting!

I continued that creativity to the back of the pillow, where I quilted line approximately 1" apart in a diagonal grid pattern.  I used my hera marker and ruler to mark my lines and quilted with my walking foot.  I love the effect!

imperfectly quilted grid.

close up. I used white thread, because I wanted to see the stitching.

Then I installed a regular zipper and called it a day.  Although I have installed invisible zips on pillow cases before, I discovered Robe Zippers last time I was at JoAnn's.  They are cheaper than invisible zips or extra long zips, and longer too.  I shortened mine before installation.

I used a 'robe zipper'.

I love that the pillow case opens all the way, to make putting the pillow insert in or taking it out for washing easier.  And, I think this is my most attractive pillow case (made OR bought) yet!

Project: Accomplished!