WIP Wednesday {3.9.2011}

Wednesday already??  Here's whats been going on in my sewing room...

Completed Projects

Central Park Quilt Top

This stack of fabric quickly turned into this baby quilt over the weekend.  Super simple piecing of a bunch of 4 1/2 inch squares using Central Park.  I just love how this shows off all the beautiful fabrics.  This will eventually be going to a baby girl...as soon as I find someone having a girl!  Haha.  The person I had in mind, well, turns out shes having a boy!  This just means I get to hang on to this a little longer :)

Ongoing Projects

Scrap Bin Quilt

I dug into my red and pink/purple scrap bin and put together a few scrappy blocks.  Unfortunately I ran out of white fabric, so these are on hold until I can restock my Kona stash!  I am really excited about finishing up these blocks and seeing them all together, this quilt will definitely be a keeper!

DQS 10

My pearl cotton size 8 thread FINALLY came in the mail, so the majority of my evenings this week have been spent on the couch, thimbles in hand, endlessly hand quilting my doll quilt.  I grossly underestimated how long it would take to do the hand quilting, but I am really enjoying the process.  It's almost complete, hope my partner likes!

Quilt Tops Awaiting Quilting

Central Park baby quilt

On Hold

p.s. i quilt postage stamp quilt along quilt

Amy Butler sew along

This Weeks Stats

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 1
Ongoing Projects: 5

Be sure to head on over to Freshly Pieced to check out all the WIPs!





Central Park Quilt Top

I feel like it's been forever since I've actually completed something!  Albeit that this is only the top of a quilt, but I'm considering it a completion.  I was able to get my Central Park baby quilt pieced together this weekend, and while its a very very simple layout, I really like how it shows off the fabrics against the crisp white blocks.

Now of course, the baby I had in mind when making this, we found out this weekend is a boy and not a girl!  Oh well, we still have one other couple we know who is pregant who hasn't found out yet what the baby will be.  Maybe a girl??

My first thought was that the fabrics from the Central Park line would only really work for a girl quilt,  but when I really started looking, I think I can make it work for a boy too...I have a new pile of fabrics which will hopefully be cut into soon for a boy quilt using alot of the blue, green and orange colorways as well as mixing in the animal prints.  I pulled a few other blue prints from my stash to give the pile an extra punch of "boy", and really like where this second baby quilt is headed. 

Back to the quilt at hand, the top measures 40 inches square, and am putting aside to quilt in the near future. 

I will be linking this post to Sew Modern Monday hosted by Megan over at Canoe Ridge Creations.  Be sure to stop over and check out all the great projects!

I'm being featured on Gen X Quilters today!

I'm being featured today over at Gen X Quilters!  Be sure to head on over and check out the Follower Friday series!

WIP Wednesday {3.2.2011}

Time for another WIP Wednesday! 

New Projects

Central Park Baby Quilt

I have finally cut into my Central Park fat quarter bundle.  These fabrics have just been screaming to be made into a baby quilt...we have two couple friends who are expecting, neither of them know what they are having, so I'm taking a chance that one of the two of them will have a girl! 

I started with this stack...

And then had these yummy scraps and squares...

Which turned into this pretty pretty layout on my design wall!  I need to cut the white squares and then get busy sewing this little quilt top together.

Ongoing Projects

Scrap Bin Quilt (I really must think of a new name...)

I posted about this in my weekend sewing post, but I have been wanting to really dig into my scrap bins and make a quilt solely out of fabric scraps from other projects. 

This is what I have so far, using up a good bit of my green and blue fabric scraps.  As a side bonus in cutting into my Central Park fabric, I even have a few scraps of oranges and pinks that I was lacking to add to those blocks! 

DQS 10

Unfortunately I don't have any further progress to share on my Hope Valley Quilt for DQS 10...BUT a little birdie told me (ok, not a little birdie but the UPS tracking system) that my pearl cotton thread I ordered to do the hand quilting should be awaiting me at my doorstep when I get home!  If this is true, this project will jump to the number one spot, as I'm uber anxious to get quilting and see the finished result!

Projects In Waiting

p.s. i quilt postage stamp quilt along quilt

Amy Butler sew along

This Weeks Stats:

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

Ongoing Projects:  5 (up one from last week)

Be sure to pop over to Freshly Pieced and see all the wonderful WIPs!



Weekend Sewing

Me and my sewing room had a chance for some bonding time this weekend, ahhh bliss, hours of uniterupted sewing!

Remember this block?  Well I thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it some more, and just decided that it was too big to make it work in a quilt in any capacity I had in mind.  The more I looked at it, the more it just looked like a giant block of blue wonky spit up, and it really needed to be cut down. 

This is what is occupying my design wall right now, and I am proud to say that these blocks were made 100% out of my scrap bins!  I am really happy with the decision to cut the big blocks down, but whats funny, after adding the borders, these "smaller" blocks still measure about 16 1/2 inches square, vs. the "big" unaltered scrap blocks measured 18 1/2 inches square!

I'm half temped to put together one more blue block and sew this together with some white sashing and call it a day!  I have quickly realized that blues and greens completely dominate my stash compilation, so I think I and going to set this project aside, as I have plans to cut into my Central Park fat quarter bundle, which will leave me with many more pinks, purples and orange scraps. 

I also had time this morning to put together these little Nook covers for a coworker who asked if I would make one for her and her sister.  I used Amy's magnetic snap tutorial on my own this time, and was able to put both these covers together in less than 2 hours this morning.

Happy Sewing!

Guest Post: Magnetic Snaps Tutorial

Today's post is comming from my new sewing friend and neigbor, Amy!  She is going to share how to use those super nifty magnetic snaps that she uses on all her e-reader covers and purses listed in her etsy shop.  Be sure to check out her fabulous covers and key fobs in super yummy fabrics and designs.  Withour further ado, here is today's featured post!

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So you wonder if you can figure out how to use magnetic snaps to jazz

a purse, an ereader cover, or something else?

Sure you can!

I'm Jessica's neighbor, Amy DeCesare,

{who loves sewing as much as she does},
and I'll show you how to use these awesome pieces of hardware.

To give credit where credit is due...I first learned how to install magnetic snaps, along with a host of other skills, when I purchased this PDF pattern by Mommy's Thimble:

The instructions for this Grab and Go purse are not only easy to follow, but they are amusing.

{I have overcome my fear of zippers and gussets through this pattern!}

The purses are so cute, and you can either use jelly roll strips

or cut your own coordinating selection, as I've done today.

This pattern is available at http://www.jlingg.etsy.com/ or http://www.sewlovefabrics.com/, as well as http://www.pinkchalkfabrics.com/.

To get started you need a set of magnetic snaps.

Oh, go ahead and get yourself a PACK of them.

I found these on the purse hardware wall at JoAnn's.

They have several sizes and lots of COLORS! Fun!!!

You'll want to install the snap parts to the project early on, before it's all stitched up.

{Whether I'm making a purse or an ereader cover,

I always use a fusible fleece interfacing, such as Pellon 987F,

to lend soft support to the fabrics of my project.

This makes the snap nice and stable as well.}

Here I used the underside of the purse flap, attaching the "male" section.

First, use the washer that is included with the snap, and position it where the snap belongs.

Mark the 2 slots with a pen or pencil. (It won't show, I promise!)

With a sharp pair of scissors, cut the slots all the way through.

Insert the prongs of the snap, with the male side on the right side of the fabric. 

Flip it over and position the washer over the prongs.

Now spread the prongs apart and flatten them. Easy, huh?

Find the part of the project that will hold the "female" snap segment. Use the same process, lining up the washer where the finished snap belongs.

Mark the slots...

Cut the lines carefully...

Insert the female snap on the right side, and flip it over...

Add the washer, then separate the prongs.

TA DAH!!!!

Don't blame me if you can't make just one project!

WIP Wednesday {2.23.2011}

Happy WIP Wednesday!  Here is a peek at whats occupying my sewing space at the current moment:

Ongoing Projects

DQS 10

My doll quilt top is complete!  I am really pleased with how this is comming together, it's so great when an idea in your head plays out in fabric just as you'd imagined.  I had a slight fear that the Hope Valley fabrics wouldn't "jump" off the neutral background enough, but I think it really works.  Now I'm just waiting for the cotton pearl thread I ordered to come in the mail so I can get quilting!



Scrappy Mystery Project

 I have an overwhelming amount of scraps which seem to just be exploding from their assigned bins.  Last night, as I was contemplating what I want to start working on next, I decided that now is the time to start a scrap project.  So I just started sewing bits and pieces of my blue scraps that were a square/rectangle-ish in shape together into wonky rows, until I ended up with this behemoth sized block of blue scraps.  I have absolutely no idea what this is going to turn into...well, no, I take that back, the more I look at it, the more I think that  this block is entirely too big, so maybe I'll cutting it down, and maybe doing something a la Stitched in Color's  Bottled Rainbows quilt along she is beginning.  I'm thinking white borders around the scrappyness and  then maybe an additional colored border?  I dunno, I like borders...so we'll see where this goes!

This is only about half of my scraps, so there should be limitless possibilities!

Projects in a holding pattern

Postage Stamp Quilt Along quilt
Amy Butler Sew Along...I don't know what it is.   I was so excited to make some of these bags,    but everytime I go to work on it, I am just not in a bag sewing kind of mood.  One of these days.

This weeks Stats:

New Projects: 1
Completed Projects: 0
Ongoing Projects: 4

Be sure to stop by Freshly Pieced to check out all the wonderful WIPs!!