WIP Wednesday {5.30.2012}

It's been quite a week around these parts!  Lots of family time and barbecues this weekend, but I did manage a few chunks of quality sewing time.  Of course this was squeezed in between sneezes and nose blowing, and just waiting for this stupid head cold/sinus icky-ness to pass...yes still waiting...ugh.  Anyways, achoo!  On with this weeks projects:

Completed Projects

Owl-y baby quilt

This little guy is finished and on its way to its new home.  More on this quilt here.

May Bee Blocks 

These blocks were made using Elizabeth's Radiant Ring tutorial (which is awesome!) and are for Toni in the Imagine circle of do. Good Stitches.  This quilt will be so bright and cheery, can't wait to see it come together!

New and In Progress

EZ Dresden Project

This is the carnage of a little stitching, slicing and dicing using the EZ Dresden Ruler.  I'll be showing the finished project as part of the EZ Dresden Challenge Blog Hop next month, so stay tuned!

That about sums up this weeks projects!  I've also been plugging and chugging away on quilting my do. Good Stitches Japanese x and + quilt.  Hopefully in the next few days I'll be finishing up the quilting and shipping it off to Threading Hope.  Be sure to head over to Freshly Pieced and add your WIPs!

completed owl-y quilt

Despite coming down with a dreaded spring head cold/sinus infection this past weekend that left me just sick, icky and exhausted, I managed to squeeze in a little quality sewing time, and finished up this adorable baby quilt.  I used Amy's Chain Linked pattern as my inspiration, and doctored the block size a little, to fit to a sweet little baby quilt.  

I really love the geometric pattern with the aqua and white, and how it still features larger sized charms in a slightly different way.  As  I mentioned last time, this quilt was a commissioned baby quilt for my aunt who is gifting it to a co-worker.  She told me that the mom was doing the nursery with lots of "cute little owls" and I knew just the fabric.  I pulled out my remaining scraps of this Anne Kelle Urban Zoologie owl fabric, and paired it with a few coordinating prints in blues, greens and yellows, and a baby quilt was born.  

Since my FMQ foot is still out of commission, and they are apparently back-ordered at the store (grumble...) I pulled out my old machine to do some fun loopy FMQing.  Man, it really made me appreciate my new machine all that much more!  I think I am starting to like these fun loops even more than stippling.  It was just enough fun an whimsy to go with those adorable owls.

I hope the new mommy to be loves these owls as much as I do!

Quilt Stats

Quilt Name:  Owl-y chain linked baby quilt

Quilt Pattern: based on Amy's Chain Linked Pattern

Quilt Size:  39" x 45"

Fabrics:  Anne Kelle Urban Zoologie Owls, Kona White, Kona Aqua, and assorted coordinating prints

Binding:  Sparky & Marie Piccadilly Aqua double leaves

Quilting:  Loopy all over FMQ done by me on my home machine

SMS Giveaway Day Winner

Thanks to all who entered my SMS Giveaway this week!  Mr. Random has helped me select a winner...Drum roll please....

Congratulations Julie!  Look for an email from me in the next few days to get your address so I can ship out your winnings!

Thanks again to all who entered!

pillow re-do

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This Giveaway is now closed.

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I got an itch the other day to make new pillow covers for the couch.  When I started thinking about it, the old covers I made have been in our living room for about a year now.  Once I got over the shock of realizing that was an entire YEAR ago...seriously it feels like a few months at most, I figured no time like the present.  

I decided I wanted to go a little simpler than all that intricate piecing like last time, and just find some complimenting prints, to whip up a few super simple easy covers to spruce up and summer-ize the room.  In perusing the home dec section of Joann's, I came across a few fun prints that worked well together, and after realizing they were 50% off I knew it was meant to be.  

These seriously took about a half an hour per cover, my kind of project.  Like I mentioned last week, I accidentally bought regular zippers instead of invisible zippers, and after getting home, realizing my mistake, and muttering a few curse words, I decided to make the best with what I had, and searched my favorite blogs for how to use these zippers without them showing.  I came across this zipper flap tutorial from Sew Mama Sew, and decided to give it a go.  I must say, I absolutely love these zipper flaps, and may go this route more often, especially when working with a super simple pillow front. 

I also picked up about a yard and a half of this natural linen-y looking fabric, that really is a home  dec weight fabric, and thought it was far too boring to just make a simple cover out of, and consulted with my pinterest pillow board for what to do to spruce up this boring neutral color.

 

I have been wanting to try this V & Co Faux Pleated Pillow tutorial for some time, and thought it would be perfect using the neutral, with a strip or two of color from one of the other pillows, instead of varying the color.  I like my pillow covers to be nice and snug (I cut my fabric pieces at 19 1.2" square for a 20" form), so I ended up having to use a little fusible web on the pleats on either end to help keep them in place.  It worked like a charm, and this is one of my favorite favorite pillows ever.

While I was at Joann's I also picked up a pretty greyish nylon-y fabric (because I can never buy just what I went in for), with the intentions of maybe making  this fun ruffle pillow at some point.  Well in my pillow making madness, "at some point" turned into now.  This pillow took far more material than I had thought it would, so my only regret is I didn't have enough fabric to make the "base" square out of the same material, and at some spots you can see the material under the ruffles.  I'm sure I'm the only one that would think to notice that, but it bugs me a little.  Oh well, live and learn.



I have enough material to make 3 more pillow covers to go on the opposite couch, but I am really loving how this nice and simple, quick and easy project makes a big change in the look of the room.  I don't think I've quite gotten the "pillow bug" out of my system, so stay tuned for more!

Quilt Market Quilt

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This Giveaway is now closed.

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While I wasn't able to attend quilt market this year, one of my quilts did make the trip!  I think this quilt was made from start to finish in about 6 days, and was certainly the fastest quilting I've done in some time.  Elyse from Westminster fabrics asked if I could make a last minute quilt to display in their booth, and of course I couldn't say no.  A day later this giant stack of fabrics arrived at my doorstep and I got to work.  

While admittedly  these are not fabrics I am typically drawn to, it was fun playing with fabric that were a little different style.  The fabric is Camille by Melissa White for Westminster fabric, and as a whole really plays well together, with the bright bold fabrics being balanced with a few more muted patterns.  It sort of gives me a vintage sheets sort of vibe, with maybe some Kaffe Fasset-ness thrown in.  

I used my starburst cross block tutorial, and decided to play with color value, by pairing up the light and dark fabrics, so each fabric was represented equally.



Thanks Lee for snapping this pic while you were at quilt market!!

Here it is in the Westminster booth at market, see it there in the center??

Quilt Stats:

Name:  Camille Starburst Cross 

Pattern:  made using my Starburst Cross block tutorial

Size:  48" x 60"

Fabrics: Camille by Melissa White for Westminster Fabrics, Kona White

Quilting:  Allover meandering Stipple done by me on my home machine

SMS Giveaway Day

*****************This Giveaway is now closed*****************

It's that time of year again, and one of my absolute favorites, Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day!  Welcome to my little corner of the blog-o-sphere, and thanks for stopping by.

If you're new to sewcraftyjess, again hello and welcome, please, stay and play for a little!  My name is Jessica and over the past two and a half years I have become quite the quilting enthusiast.  My eye is always drawn to bright fun modern prints, which makes up the bulk of my fabric stash.    For Giveaway Day, I thought I'd do a little destashing, and giveaway a few fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt FMF reprint fabric.  I was so so excited when I found out this fabric was being re-released, as the first release was a little before my quilting time.  I was a little overzealous, and ordered way more than I ever think I'll use.  

Now onto the good stuff, here's what's up for grabs:



I'll be giving away six fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy reprint as pictured.

As for the nitty gritty, here's how to enter:

1.  Leave me a comment telling my about your latest or current crafty project.  (If you are a no-reply blogger, please include your e-mail in your post!)

2.  How about we add one more chance to win, become a follower, and leave me a comment, or leave a comment letting me know if you already are! (again, make sure I have your contact info if it's not listed in your profile)

The giveaway will be open until Friday, May 25th at 5:00 PM PST.  

Mr. Random draw one winner and I will notify him/her about their winnings (again, please please make sure I have a way to contact you, if the winner does not have contact info listed either in their profile or in their comment, a second winner will be drawn).

I will ship internationally, so all are welcome!

an owl-y quilt top

Remember this stack of fabric?  Well I finally got around to doing something with it, and now have a quilt top to show.  This is a commissioned baby quilt for my aunt that I agreed to make, because I just can't seem to say no :-)  When she told me the mom was "really into cute little owls" for the nursery, I knew I had just the perfect fabric, and this quilt had to be made.  I used my last little bits of this Ann Kelle Urban Zoologie owl fabric, which I just love to pieces, and some coordinating prints and solids.  

I used Amy's Chain Linked pattern as my inspiration, and doctored the size to make a nice little baby quilt.  This quilt came together super quick, and I will be adding this to my arsenal of baby quilt ideas,  I can see it in so many different color combinations!

Unfortunately my FMQ foot bit the dust on the last quilt I was working on, so until I can get a replacement, this quilt top will sit waiting, but hopefully not for long!  Happy weekend sewing, I will be stalking twitter, vicariously living through all the lucky ones attending Spring Quilt Market! 

WIP Wednesday {5.16.2012}

I'm still here!  I promise!  I feel like its been eons since I've been around these bloggy parts...I've been quite busy doing some behind the scenes work, working on my quilt for market (which I'll show you next week) and we were out of town for the weekend, so I feel like I'm just now settling back into normalcy.  There's not much to show, but heres a little bit of what's been going on!

Last minute new pillows

Pillow Back with Zipper Flap

As I was perusing Joann's last night with my coveted 60% scratch-off coupon (I ultimately bought them out of Kona white, and saved a bajillion dollars on it with the coupon), I came across some super pretty summery home dec weight fabrics that I thought would be great for new pillows in our living room.  I whipped up two last night, super simple slip covers.  It felt nice to just do some easy sewing with a quick result.  I accidentally bought regular zippers instead of invisible zippers, so I used Sew Mama Sew's zipper flap tutorial and am super happy with how they turned out.  I'm going to just work on a few here and there until I hopefully have 8 total.

SewCraftyJess Makeover

After creating a new blog header, I was inspired to order some new business cards, and some new fabric labels, with my new logo of sorts, and I couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out.  The business cards are from Vista Print and my labels are from Mommiemadeit on etsy.

Kitchen Facelift

Since finishing painting our cabinets, we've been stalled just waiting for the new coutertops to come in.  After  living like this for the past two days, I'm thrilled to report that the men are installing our coutertops, new sink and dishwasher as we speak!  Yippee!

That about sums up whats new in these parts!  I'm off to enjoy a rare day off of work Wednesday, and do a little sewing just because.  Be sure to head over to Freshly Pieced and add your WIP!

Summer Scoops Scallop quilt

Hello and welcome!  I'd like to thank Jennifer for asking me to take part in the Summer Sewing Contest blog hop kickoff, and I'd like to share with you my Summer Scoops Scallop quilt (say that one three times fast!).  This quilt just epitomizes what I think of as summer in sewing.  As many of you pointed out when I blogged about the quilt top, it reminds me of ice cream scoops, and really what better says summer than ice cream.

Ever since working on these pillows for Ann I had wanted to turn the idea into a full scale quilt.  I turned to my trusty Accuquilt GO! and Drunkards Path die and went to town cutting and stitching.  I dug through the warm fabrics in my stash, pulling out all the pinks, oranges and yellows, and threw in some greens and grays for a little contrast, and a quilt was born.

I decided to branch outside of my comfort zone a little for the quilting, and took a hint from Elizabeth's baptist fans, and sort of did a "liberal" version, which I thinks works well with the curved piecing but isn't quite so structured.

This quilt will definitely be making the trip on our annual summer beach vacation this year.  I think it is just destined to be spread out on the sand under an umbrella.  Ahhh I'm relaxing just thinking about it.

For the back, I used this pretty pink fuchsia gingham print I picked up at Joann's, and actually used it for the binding also, but cut the binding strips on the bias, to give it a slightly different look.  I really love it, this bright pink was the perfect finishing touch for this vibrant quilt.

If you have an Accuquilt, or a drunkards path die, putting a quilt together like this really is super easy.  The trick is to trim the background fabric to just 1/4" beyond your arc portion, so that when it is sewn together, the arcs meet as a point like so:

Also, plan, plan, and plan some more, so you know what fabrics to sew together.  I sketched my layout out using the TouchDraw app on my iPad like so, but this would be easily doable on graph paper as well.

Quilt Stats

Name:  Summer Scoops Scallop quilt

Pattern:  Made using Accuquilt GO! Drunkards Path die

Size: 66" x 77"

Fabrics:  Assorted pink, yellow, orange, green and gray prints from my stash

Binding:  Pink Gingham from Joann's

Quilting:  FMQ Liberated baptist fans done by me on my home machine

Thanks for stopping by and happy Summer Sewing!  Don't forget to checkout the rest of the Summer Sewing blog hop stops:

May 7: In Color Order

May 9: Sew Crafty Jess

May 11: Stitched in Color  & Canoe Ridge Creations

May 14: Don't Call Me Betsy & Sweet Deisel Designs

May 16: Olive and Ollie & I Like Orange, Too! 

May 18: Diary of a Quilter & Craft Buds

May 21: Lots of Pink Here

May 23: Love Affair With My Brother & Sukie 

May 25: Stitchery Dickory Dock & LR Stitched

May 28: The Busy Bean &Fresh Lemons Quilts

May 30: Random Thoughts Do or Di & Sew Sweetness

Starburst Cross block tutorial

I am so so super excited that although I am not able to go to Quilt Market this year, one of my quilts will be going!  Last week I was asked if I would be willing to make a last minute quilt to go to market, and of course I had to say yes.  The next day the Fed Ex man brought me this beautiful stack of Melissa White fabrics, which admittedly aren't usually what  I am drawn to when shopping for fabrics, but in person they are just beautiful.  They sort of remind me vintage sheets meet Kaffe Fassett, and are oh so soft, almost silky.  I thought this would be the perfect project to use my most recent TouchDraw quilt design , and thought I'd share a quick tute with you all today.

Starburst Cross Block 

12.5" unfinished block

For this block, you will need two prints: Fabric A (center star) and Fabric B ("cross" fabric) and a neutral background fabric, I used white.


STARBURST CROSS BLOCK TUTORIAL
Updated (3/6/2014)  block tutorial with simplified cutting and piecing instructions after appearing in October/November QUILT Magazine

12.5” unfinished block

MATERIALS:

(1) 4.5” square Fabric A
(8) 2.5” squares Fabric A
(8) 4.5” squares Fabric B
(8) 2.5” squares Solid/Background Fabric

INSTRUCTIONS:

Use a scant 1/4” seam allowance unless otherwise noted.

1. Draw a diagonal line from opposite corners on all (8) 2.5” print squares and (8) 2.5” solid/background fabrics.

2. To construct the (4) corner units, align (2) marked white squares on opposite corners of (1) 4.5” Fabric B square, right sides together, as shown below, and sew on the marked line.  These will form your corner units or “rays.”

3. Repeat step 2 with (3) additional 4.5” Fabric B squares and remaining (6) 2.5” Solid/Background Fabrics.

4. Using your rotary cutter, trim all (4) corner units 1/4” away from each stitched line (the dotted line as pictured below) and press towards your solid/background fabric.

5. To construct the side units, align (1) 2.5” Fabric A square on the corner of (1) 4.5” Fabric B square and use the process described above to stitch, trim and press.  Next, align a second 2.5” Fabric A square on an adjacent corner, stitch, trim and press, as shown below.

6. To complete your block, arrange the (4) corner units or “rays”, (4) side units and (1) Fabric A 4.5” square in (3) rows of (3) units as shown below.  Sew the (3) rows together to complete the block.

scrappiness happiness

March was my month to be the quilter in the Imagine Circle of do. Good Stitches.  After much hmming and hawing about what I wanted to do, I settled on Badskirt Amy's Japanese X and + tutorial.  I upsized the block a bit, so that these finished at a little over 11 inches as opposed to finishing at 7.5" as in the tutorial.    

I asked the ladies to make their blocks as bright and scrappy as they could manage, and I have to say I am just blown away at the awesomeness of everyones blocks!  I think that all the bright pops of color really add to the design, I have to admit I'm quite smitten :-)

Our circle of do. Good Stitches sends our quilts to Threading Hope, which provides quilts to children in underprivileged areas of the world. I believe the quilts of 2012 are headed to Bali, Indonesia.  It's so nice to be able to give a little back with a hobby that I just love.  It really warms my heart.

  

I'm hoping to get this guy basted over the weekend and get to quilting, to ship it off to its new home soon!