Goodies!!



Lookie what the mail man brought me yesterday!!  I am beyond ecstatic, I received this lovely doll quilt from Krista (lolablueocean)!!!  There are not words to express how much I love this, and how thankful I am of Krista and the time and detail she put into this fabulous doll quilt.  The bright fun colors, the spiderwebs, THE QUILTING, oh my!!

I could stare at this for hours, just look at all those awesome fabric strips!  Krista did an amazing job, I cannot even fathom how she did all the fabulous quilting! 

Just look at those feathers.  Swoon.  I had seen this doll quilt in the flickr pool, and had commented that I hoped it was comming to me, and how luck am I, it did indeed come my way!

Krista also sent along this adorable mug rug which I also just love.  Half square triangles AND embroidery AND linen?  Couldn't get any better. 

Krista also included some fabulous thread and fun ribbons that I must find a project to use them in.  Again, thank you thank you thank you Krista, I just absolutely love the doll quilt you sent!

Cosmo Bag

I purchased Amy Butler's Style Stitches book a few months ago, and had all intentions of participating in Bree from My Crafty Crap's sew along she is hosting using the book to create one project per month.  Now seeing that it is April, and the Cosmo bag is technically January's bag in the sew along, I'm not quite following along.  I knew right away when looking through this book, that of all the bags out of this book, this was one that I just had to make.  I have to say right off the bat, that I LOVE it.  Love Love Love.

I used City Blooms by Kitty Yoshida for the main exterior, Riley Blake purple bead chain for the handles and Riley Blake Victoria in fuscia for the lining.

This bag is the first pattern in the Style Stitches book, and is labeled "beginner."  Now, I really didn't have a hard time putting this bag together, but I don't think I could have just opened up this book, not having had much sewing experience under my belt, and had a successful outcome.  This bag was incredibly labor intensive, and I grossly underestimated how long it would take to put together.  I clocked it, 3 hours alone just to cut out the fabric pieces from the pattern and apply all the 90 million yards of interfacing to all the pieces.  And then I began sewing. 

I hit one major hiccup during the construction...it was 100% my fault and an error in attention to direction, but when I was assembling the outer portion, I sewed the handles on backwards (I sewed the right handle onto the left side of the bag, and the left handle onto the right side of the bag).  Ugh.  I didn't realize it until I went to sew the sides on, and thought, "huh, this doesn't seem right."  Well, that's because it wasn't right.  Like I said completely 100% my fault, but frustrating none the less.  Me and my seam ripper became best friends working on this bag.  

I will say, this bag is monstrous.  Like you could fit a small child inside.  Actually, not even technically a small child.  I do love it, don't get me wrong, this will make a great beach bag, and I plan on using it as a gym bag as well, but it's big.

I love this button detail, and am going to keep it in mind if I ever need a closure like this.

To briefly review this pattern, the construction is very labor intensive for a "beginner" pattern, with lots of curved seems, resulting in TONS of pinning.  As seems to be true with Amy Butler patterns in general, do not expect lots of pictures in the instructions.  I think this pattern had about 14 steps, and while the book has plenty of pictures of the completed bags scattered throughout, there are no pictures of the construction process.  There were 2 maybe 3 diagrams scattered throughout the instructions, but the directions are very clear, concise and worded so there were not may steps where I found myself confused.  Overall, I would say this bag was totally worth the effort!

I am going to link this post to Canoe Ridge Creations Sew Modern Monday, be sure to check out all the awesome entries!

postage stamp quilt top



It's been entirely too long since I began this quilt, but the top is finally finished!!  I followed along with Rachel of p.s. i quilt's postage stamp quilt along and finally have a quilt top to show for it. 

I had played around with making this quilt smaller than the suggested result, because I wanted to have some left over blocks to make a pieced back.  In the end, I do have about 15 extra strips, which will be enough to add a little extra into the quilt back, and I am glad that I went with the larger size.  The top measures 60 1/2 x 80 1/2 inches, yes that is 1200 tiny little 2 inch squares!!  I'm pretty sure this is the largest quilt I've put together as of yet, and I'm a little nervous how my little machine will handle quilting it.  I really don't want to pay to have it long arm quilted, and, well the quilting is my favorite part, so I don't want to give it up!  

Here are a few close ups of some of the blocks (please ignore the errant strings that I have yet to pluck off).  To make this quilt, I used a jelly roll of It's a Hoot by MoMo for Moda and a jelly roll of Bella Solids in Snow.

I really do think that these prints lended themselves very nicely to the smaller 2" blocks in this quilt, and even the little squares of the larger all over prints caught a few cute little glimpses of little birdies and cool shapes. 

This quilt top has been folded up and stashed away, and will stay like that for a little while.  I'm still deciding on how I want to quilt it, I really want to straight line quilt 1/4 inch from each seam, but my last session of straight line quilting has me paranoid of puckers!  I think it is my basting that is off...what are your tips for sucessfully basting  your quilts?? 

WIP Wednesday {4.6.2011}



WIP Wednesday time!  Unfortunately there has been little to no sewing done this week.  We had such a crazy busy weekend, that I think the only time I was in my sewing room, was to put away all the fabric I bought on our shop hop!

Ongoing Projects

p.s. i quilt postage stamp quilt along

I finally have all my blocks sewn together for the p.s. i quilt postage stamp quilt along.  I was arranging my blocks on my design wall, I didn't realize how big this quilt is going to be, above is a glimpse at what fit on my design wall.  I did spend some time sewing rows together, and have the quilt top almost half way pieced.  Thats my goal for tonight, get this quilt top finished up!  I really do like how this is turning out.  I was originally thinking of giving this quilt to my cousin and her soon to be husband as a wedding gift, but I found a better quilt to make for them (more to come on that later!)  I'm thinking this might be tucked away for a friends birthday, but we shall see.

pintoppers

I blogged about these yesterday, and I guess it is technically something I did finish this week.  These are available for purchase if anyone is interested for $ 4.00 per topper. 

Cosmo Bag



Baby steps here.  I have found my fabric I want to use to make my Cosmo Bag from Amy Butler's style stitches!  This is project numero uno after that quilt top is pieced together.

New Projects

Sew Sweetness Sew Along

Sara from SewSweetness is hosting a sew along to make a dress!!  Sara always has the most adorable dresses and clothing that she makes featured on her blog, and I am always in awe of what she can do with a sewing machine.  She has put together this awesome sew along using the Sis Boom Jamie dress pattern, which I think looks absolutely adorable. 





I am stepping 100% out of my comfort zone on this one and am hoping that my end result is something I wouldn't be embarassed to wear in public!  Above is the fabric I selected for my dress.  I have to say, I found it very challenging to select a fabric that I could envision on that large of a scale, so here's hoping my selection works well!  My fabric has been prewashed and I need to print out the pattern pieces next.

Quilt tops awaiting quilting

Central Park baby quilt #1
Scrappy Rainbow Quilt

This Weeks Stats


New Projects: 3 (I'm adding in 3 x 6 bee blocks and caretaker block swap here too)
Completed Projects: 0
Ongoing Projects: 5

Be sure to pop over to freshly pieced and add your WIP!

pintoppers

Imagine my surprise when I received an email about a week ago that someone was interested in purchasing some of my pin toppers!!  I honestly hadn't really even thought of selling them at that point.  In the back of my mind I am always worried that when I make things for people they won't be happy with them or think they are good enough.  Let alone having someone pay for something I made and when they receive it, think it wasn't worth what they paid for. 

So this question kind of caught me by surprise, and while I was honored and flattered, I didn't know what to say.  After thinking about it for a few days, I decided, what the heck, if someone is interested in puchasing what I've made for a fair price, I should go with it.  I think I just need to readjust my thought process, and instead of doubting everything I make, and wondering if it's "good enough," know that as long as I am happy with it, it's a-ok.

These are a few flowers that she requested (along with the apples above and the cupcakes below).  We decided on what I think is a fair price at $4 per topper. 

If anyone else is interested in purchasing any of these little guys, send me an email to sewcraftyjess@gmail.com or leave me a comment and we can figure out the details. 

While watching Dancing with the Stars last night, I started playing around with a few new topper designs, and came out with these:

I have to say, that little ice cream cone I think is my favorite...although I could never say no to cake.

...and if your wondering, yes those are my completed postage stamp blocks in the background!  Tonights plan is to start turning them into a quilt top! 

I also wanted to mention that April of KoolBeenz is hosting an awesome giveaway sponsored by The Fat Quarter Shop!  Head on over to enter to win a fabulous Jelly Roll!!

shop hop loot

Yesterday, a few gals from our local MQG went on a little shop hop to three local quilt shops in the Pittsburgh area...I'd say it was a success!!  Our first stop was the Quilters Corner in the little town of Finleyville, PA.  Now,  not only had I never been to Finleyville or this shop before, I'd never even heard of Finleyville before!  I must say, walking into the fabric shop was like walking into fabric heaven.  I think I may have heard the fabric angels singing when I walked in the door!  I seriously could have spent hours in this shop alone.  

They had Amy Butler's Style Stitches on display, you know that book that I had to have...and has been sitting on my shelf for about 2 months now with nothing made out of it?  Yeah that'd be the one.  They had many of the bags out of the book on display in the shop, I wish I had thought to take some pictures, but I didn't.  Seeing all those lovelies on display was just the motivation to get cracking on bag making!!  They look even better in person than in the book.  I picked up some City Blooms by Kitty Yoshida and two Riley Blake prints (purple bead chain and Riley Blake Victoria in fushcia) to use for the cosmo bag, and itching to get sewing with them.

I had dots on the brain yesterday!  There is something about polka dots that just draws me in...no plans in the immediate future for these, but they are nice additions to my stash.   The two dots on the left were Hello Betty  by Chloe's Closet for Moda, and were 25% off!  They literally jumped into my hands! The red dots are more Riley Blake, Rainy days and Mondays, I believe; some Mary Engelbreit for Moda (Attitude Girls I believe) green dots and some Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow aqua dots.

Our second shop was Quilters Depot, and was more along the lines of a quick stop on the way to our third shop, the quilt company, which yielded many fabulous finds, including these Amy Butler Daisy Chain prints and a Love print!  Get this, we found the Love print in the back room and was marked 50% off!  Couldn't pass that up.  

We also found this Katie Jump Rope print in that sale back room too!  Cindy and I were on the same page all day long and literally lunged for the bolt when we saw it!!

I am really digging light grays right now, so these were nice finds that will work well in some upcoming projects.

A few more that I just couldn't resist.  I could have bought yardage of the entire Ty Pennington line that they had at our first stop, but resisted with only this little fat quarter.  The blue is from Monaco by Dena for Freespirit, so fresh and spring-y, couldn't resist.  

I consider yesterday to be an uber-successful and super fun fabric shopping trip.  Cindy, Corley, Mary, Priscilla and Thea, I had a blast!!

WIP Wednesday {3.30.2011}

Already Wednesday??!?  I can't believe its been almost 5 months that Lee has began hosting WIP Wednesday!  Onto this weeks work...

First off I just have to share my little secret I've been holding in since the beginning of DQS 10...My package went out over the weekend and my partner received it on Monday (holy fast, right??)  BUT I can finally share who I was making my doll quilt for...it was for Lee!!  Yes thats right, Lee.. the one and only Lee that hosts this linky party for everyone's WIPs each and every Wednesday!  Being a part of DQS was fun all on its own, but it was the icing on the cake to be making something for one of my bloggy friends.  Here is her post with pictures of the quilt in its new home, I must say, it looks quite happy nestled above Lee's sewing machine :)

Now, for real onto what I've been working on...

Completed Projects

 

Central Park Baby Quilt

I finished up the binding on my central park charm square quilt, and am so so pleased with the end result. I'm going to have to store this quilt away for a few months, as the baby is not due until this summer. But it'll be well worth the wait to see that little bundle of joy cuddled up on this quilt!

Scrappy Rainbow Quilt Top



With everyones input over the weekend to help me decide how to lay out these blocks, I was able to get my scrappy rainbow quilt top put together.  I am so happy with how this turned out, and can't help but smile looking at all those bright fun colors! 

March Quilting Bee Blocks

Ongoing Projects

p.s. i quilt postage stamp quilt along

I have this thing with unfinished projects.  I can't stand it.  This little buddy has been sitting in a stack on the corner of my sewing table for a few weeks now (ok more than a few weeks, but who's counting)...and its almost like it's taunting me.  I have about half the blocks put together, and a big mess of strips of 2 inch squares.  I feel like its glaring at me.  I've finally caved and picked this project back up.  I have vowed to work on this until at least the quilt top is complete.  Then I can stash it away work on quilting it up at a later date.  But I must get this bugger off my sewing table. 

Quilt tops awaiting quilting

Central Park baby quilt #1
Scrappy Rainbow Quilt

On Hold

Amy Butler sew along

This Weeks Stats

New Projects: 0
Completed Projects: 3
Ongoing Projects: 2

Be sure to head over to freshly pieced and check out all the awesome WIPs!!