Stitch Fancy

I’m participating in the current round of the Pillow Talk Swap, and this is what I have in the works for my partner so far.  I had a hard time getting started and finding a direction, but this is what I’ve come up with.  They look a bit rough around the edges at the moment, but once they’re trimmed up and sewn together, I think they’ll be just fine.

I originally planned to place them in an arrangement like this with some sort of a border around them.  Now I’m considering narrow sashing, but I’ll probably sew them in pairs first and then decide.  The fabric on the right is Essex Linen in Denim.  I really love the colors next to it.  This is a bad picture at night, but it really does look much better in person. 

Most of the time I don’t have too much trouble mailing my projects off to my partners, but this pillow will be difficult to let go.  I made up the feather paper piecing pattern.  I would have loved to use Anna Maria Horner’s since the work is already done, but hers were too large, and I really needed them to fit just right, so I made very small ones.  Each one is four inches by eight inches.  The reason I hate to let this one go is that I’ll probably never put in the time and effort to make myself one.  So, I’ll have to think about it.  My partner was very easy going about the size.  I have another feather idea running around my head, so I might try that one out, too, and then decide which pillow to send her.  The deadline is coming up fast, though, so I may not have a choice anyway.

I’m also getting ready to make myself one of Noodlehead’s Super Totes.  It would make a great diaper bag, and fabric bags are always good for the summer.  I’ve loved this Echo Navy print by Lotta Jansdotter since it came out over a year ago.  It’s been sitting on my shelf for a while awaiting the perfect project, and this might just be it.  Normally I don’t use fabric from all one line in a single project, but these two look so good together, and I think they’d look great paired with some natural linen, so I’m going to go for it this time.  I just need to pop over to Joann Fabrics for some interfacing since these are quilting cottons.  I haven’t started cutting yet, but my pattern pieces are all taped together and ready to go.

Finally, I’m about 30 inches away from being finished with this quilt.  I took it to my parents’ house with me over the weekend and got all the binding finished except the last corner.  Hopefully I’ll get that finished soon so it can head over to its new home.  Now that it’s almost done, I’m starting to like it better than I did at first.  If it were mine, I still would have chosen to do a few things differently, but I think it’s pretty, and I think they’ll be happy with it, so that’s the important thing.  Hopefully I’ll be able to post some finished pictures soon.

Lots of stuff going on this week—sewing and otherwise!

My only remaining quilting bee for this year is Stash Bee.  August is its last month.  It has been fun, but it was almost a two year long bee, and honestly, I’m ready for it to be over.  I’m just ready to move on to new things, and I’ve come to enjoy swapping a lot more than making bee blocks.  However, since I got all my blocks for my month around a year and a half ago, I’m sticking it out, of course.

The block above is for April—I’m very late.  I actually had it all sewn up during April, but it has laid on my kitchen counter since then waiting to be mailed.  Today, it’s finally on its way.  The quilter of the month requested any print fabric with a white solid background.  I think this is called “Road to Oklahoma,” but I could be wrong on that.  It’s a neat block—you can put them all together in several different ways, creating stars, arrows, etc., and they all give a different look.  It’s a good block for a scrap quilt.

The May hostess requested asterisk blocks in patriotic colors.  I hope these work for her, as I didn’t have any royal blue in my stash.  I think they’ll be fine after seeing others’ blocks, though.  Variety is good in a scrap quilt.  This is my second time working with this block.  The first was when I made these potholders.  Although it’s a bit time-consuming, the block is very enjoyable to make, and I love the design it creates when a bunch of them are sewn together.  I’ll probably end up making more of these blocks in the future.

My only remaining quilting bee for this year is Stash Bee.  August is its last month.  It has been fun, but it was almost a two year long bee, and honestly, I’m ready for it to be over.  I’m just ready to move on to new things, and I’ve come to enjoy swapping a lot more than making bee blocks.  However, since I got all my blocks for my month around a year and a half ago, I’m sticking it out, of course.

The block above is for April—I’m very late.  I actually had it all sewn up during April, but it has laid on my kitchen counter since then waiting to be mailed.  Today, it’s finally on its way.  The quilter of the month requested any print fabric with a white solid background.  I think this is called “Road to Oklahoma,” but I could be wrong on that.  It’s a neat block—you can put them all together in several different ways, creating stars, arrows, etc., and they all give a different look.  It’s a good block for a scrap quilt.

The May hostess requested asterisk blocks in patriotic colors.  I hope these work for her, as I didn’t have any royal blue in my stash.  I think they’ll be fine after seeing others’ blocks, though.  Variety is good in a scrap quilt.  This is my second time working with this block.  The first was when I made these potholders.  Although it’s a bit time-consuming, the block is very enjoyable to make, and I love the design it creates when a bunch of them are sewn together.  I’ll probably end up making more of these blocks in the future.

My big work in progress this week is a custom quilt for the little girl I babysit.  Her mom asked me to make it for her birthday.  The colors are a bit off—they’re orange and teal.  So far, it’s going well.  I have it all basted, and it’s ready to be quilted as soon as I can find the time.

The quilt also has her name on the back.  I’m not sure I’m thrilled with the look yet, but I’m hoping it looks better once the whole thing is quilted.  She wants stippling, so It should help hold the letters in place as well, provided the thickness of the adhesive underneath doesn’t cause me tension issues.

Normally I like to spray baste quilts.  I seem to have quite a bit less trouble with pleats.  However, I ran out of spray, and I didn’t want to run out to Joann’s, so I decided to give pinning a try.  It seems to have worked decently well.  The real test will be when I do the quilting.  I’m sure dodging the pins in stippling will be pretty annoying.  It also wasn’t much fun to baste on my hands and knees.  Usually I make my dining room table work, which is much easier on the knees and back.  Even if it does work well, I don’t think this will become my go-to method.  I might use it for baby quilts since they’re so small, and pinning is cheaper.  However, for a large quilt, I think I’m willing to spring for the spray to make my life easier.

My other work in progress is a feather pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap.  I need to make eight of these little guys.  I haven’t started yet since my partner hasn’t given me any feedback, but since the mailing date (June 3rd) is coming up fast, I’m going to have to move forward either way.  The first step is piecing all the little strings together for the feathers, so I’ll start with that this week and hope for some feedback by next week.

These are the potholders I made for the Potholder Pass swap.  My partner, or rather her boyfriend, requested less “girly” potholders.  The theme for this swap was “spring,” and everything springy that I thought of had to do with flowers.  So, I just went with her favorite colors (aqua and gray), and added this yellow print simply because I liked the color combination.  The colors in the photos are a little off—nighttime photography.

I added some hand stitching as an accent, but the insul-bright is way too thick for actual hand-quilting, so it’s just for looks.  I used an angular pattern for the real quilting in the middle, and I think it goes nicely with the wonky stripe design in the middle.  Overall I’m quite happy with them.  I even made an extra set for myself.  Unfortunately, I haven’t sewed them up yet!

Since I’m writing this post so late, my partner has already received them, and her boyfriend was really happy about the more masculine potholders!

When my baby was only a couple months old, I made myself a changing pad/diaper kit to carry in my diaper bag.  My sister-in-law saw it and asked if I would make one for her sister-in-law who was pregnant.  We waited until she found out the gender—a girl!—and she asked for yellow and gray.

I used oil cloth for the inside, so it’s easily cleaned with a wipe if there happens to be an “accident.”  For my own I used a cotton laminate, which is a little less rigid, but I honestly like the oil cloth better since it gives it a little more structure. 

The pockets fold open to hold a travel wipes container on one side and a couple of diapers on the other.  I scoured the internet for all sorts of changing pads before I decided on the style I wanted.  I made one before from a tutorial I found on pinterest, but I didn’t like that the diaper/wipes pockets folded out on one side.  I saw my friend using it on a changing table at church, and it was too difficult to get the diapers and wipes out of the pockets.  Because these fold out to the sides, they’re much more easily accessible.

I did a simple chevron pieced panel on the back side, and on the side I added a wrist strap that can be unclipped and hooked over a stroller handle if desired. 

This is what the back looks like when it’s all spread out.  This took quite a while to make, and I only had my SIL pay me for the materials.  However, I realized these would not easily be a money-making venture.  They’re fairly labor-intensive, and even though this was my second pad like this, it still took me several hours.  When I made my own (which I have yet to post about), I had to go through the trouble of creating a pattern.  Of course, I didn’t take the time to record anything since I didn’t plan to make another one.  While it was easier this time since I had mine for a model, I probably should have written out instructions/dimensions for myself in case I decide to make this again.  I would probably only make this by special request, though, because a baby quilt is actually less work!

Despite the work involved, though, I think these handmade pads are really sweet—much more unique and stylish than anything I’ve seen sold in stores.  If I have a little girl in the future, I’ll definitely be making another one since my current one is too boyish.  I learned a few tricks on the first and second pads, so any from here on out should be at least a little easier.

The top row of cartwheel blocks are my addition to Julie’s quilt.  I had a really hard time figuring out what to add to this one since the quilt seems a little disjointed to me.  I think the giraffes and the string blocks on the right are super cute, but they don’t look like they belong with what’s on the left.  So, I tried to pull colors from both sides to try to bring them together.  With another addition on the bottom, I think it will turn out well.

In a couple days this will be on its way to the next stop!

I haven’t posted in a few weeks—we’ve been through a couple rounds of illnesses as well as having Damon’s third birthday party, so while I’ve been busy (and busy doing some sewing, too!), I’ve been too distracted to post lately.  So, I’ll have a lot to catch up on in the coming weeks.  During my blogging break I joined another round of the Pretty Little Pouch Swap, and my partner was really difficult to sew for this time.  She likes lots of pink and Japanese fabrics, of which I don’t have very much.  The only thing close was this Hello Kitty fabric I had picked up to have on hand to make something for a little girl.

Personally, I think Hello Kitty is super cute, but I don’t have anything with her on it that I use since it feels too little-girlish for me to feel comfortable carrying something around.  However, I really hope my partner likes this.  I made it fairly large for sewing projects, and I put a divided pocket on the inside.

I printed the Hello Kitty image out to use as a template and then used the sketchy style to applique the face and details.  I used a stippling/darning foot with black thread.  While I normally love “thread sketching,” I’m not sure it works so well in this instance.  It has a more whimsical, sketchy look to it, and Hello Kitty is more graphic with sharp lines.  However, I think it looks better than a satin stitch would, and I’m happy enough with it to send it to my partner.

I used the Hello Kitty fabric for the back of the pouch as well as the inside.  This will be on its way to my partner sometime next week!