WIP Wednesday

And for the record, it is officially still Wednesday as I'm posting this, although I admit it's awfully darn close to Thursday.  But "WIP Thursday" just doesn't sound right!

Anyway.

Here's what I've been working on this week:

Two mini "quilt sandwiches" in Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane, ready to be quilted and sewn into grocery bag dispensers.  I'm hoping to have these done by Friday!

I've been adding to my pinwheel collection for the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along -

And finally a work in progress that's all in my head at the moment . . .

A nice stack of fabric (Authentic by Sweetwater, plus some Kona black and charcoal) sitting there patiently, waiting to be cut up and sewn into a quilt for the husband.  Don't you just love that number fabric on the right?  It's just perfect for my husband who's getting his MBA with a concentration in accounting.  Number fabric for my favorite number cruncher!

The problem is I just can't decide on a design for this quilt.  I was originally just going to make a simple patchwork quilt with the layer cake, but then I decided I wanted to make the quilt a bit larger, so we can both cuddle under it on the couch.  The husband is losing hope that I'll ever get around to making this, but I will, I promise!  I just have to keep staring at this stack until the right bit of inspiration hits me.

Well, I'd better hurry up and publish this post before the clock hits midnight and I make a liar out of myself regarding the whole Wednesday thing.

Happy sewing!

Mary

Potholder Pass Round THREE!!!

So I found out yesterday that there will be yet another round of the fabulous Potholder Pass!  Hooray!

If you're interested, check it out here.  You have until the end of April to sign up, and we'll be sewing in May.  It's loads of fun and I hope you'll join in!

And now that my package has been delivered I'm pleased to reveal my secret partner who I sewed these potholders for in Round 2:

It's Lydia, of Layne James Embroidery and Designs!  She has a great blog, and and an awesome shop too.

It was really fun to sew for Lydia, and I was almost laughing when I first checked out her blog because we have so much in common - we're close in age, married our high school sweethearts, stay at home with our two-year-olds, live in the southeast, and sew for sanity!  She was assigned to me randomly, so I thought that was a pretty funny coincidence.  It was fun to meet her through this swap.

Now I'm just watching my mailbox (patiently!!!) and waiting to see what's headed my way.  This is a blind swap, so I have no idea who's sewing for me.  It could be anyone, anywhere!  Fun!

Mary

Sew & Tell Friday

Three pretty camera cases!

I admit that the one on the left is recycled from Tuesday's post, but when I made two more today I couldn't resist photographing them all together.

(Fabric: Left - Tula Pink's Plume; Center - Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossoms (teal) and Patty Young's Floura and Fauna (grey); Right - Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossoms)

The pattern is Keyka Lou's Camera Case Wristlet.

Be sure to check out all the other finishes over at Sew & Tell Friday!  

Have a great weekend!

Mary

Life's a beach

The weather was gorgeous here today . . .

. . . and the husband was able to sneak away from the grad-school-grind for a bit, so we enjoyed the weather together!

After our little trip to the beach, Lauren and I spent some time hanging out at home . . .

. . . and some quality time reading the Pottery Barn Kids catalog (which is full of quilting inspiration!)

I absolutely love this time of year - it's warm but not hot, the bugs aren't out yet, and there are enough tourists in town to make things seem lively, but not so many that it's crowded.  I love spring!

I had the chance to test-drive this camera case while at the beach today, and I loved it so much that I started cutting fabric to make three more . . .

As you can see I didn't manage to keep myself inside long enough to do any actual sewing.  How can you pass up good weather, anyway?  :-)

Let's hope I can get these done in time for Sew & Tell Friday!

Happy sewing!
Mary

I heart Keyka Lou

Have you discovered Keyka Lou's patterns yet?

I'm kind of a big fan.

Here's my latest - the Camera Case Wristlet

(Like my tripod-turned-product display?)

It even has a nice pocket in the back where you could stash your debit card, drivers license and some cash when you're on the go.

(Fabric: Tula Pink's "Plume")

This camera case was pretty easy to make, and I plan to make a few more as gifts for friends.

You don't even have to use it as a camera case - 

it would be really handy for carrying your keys, phone, and lip gloss while you're out and about.

I'm also a big fan of Keyka Lou's Pocket Clutch pattern.  

I made this one back in February for a friend's birthday:

In case you haven't heard, Keyka Lou is having her anniversary sale right now at her shop.

All PDF patterns are $5 and available for instant download.

I'm definitely going to take advantage and pick up a few patterns I've been wanting to make.

Happy Sewing!

Mary

A Quilt for Lauren

Remember the quilt I started on Monday?  It's done!

It's a bit busy for my taste, but Lauren (my 2-year-old) absolutely loves the fabric as has lots of fun pointing out the owls, snails, turtles, trees, flowers and birds.

I used straight line quilting for this, mostly because I'm not brave enough to try free-motion quilting yet!  I quilted straight lines 1/2" apart on the sashing, and eyeballed straight-ish lines approximately 1" apart across the blocks.

The fabric is Love U by Deb Strain for Moda, and I think it's perfect for a fun 2-year-old quilt.

Here's a peek at the back:

I just love those owls!

I used this tutorial by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson! for the quilt pattern. Since the tutorial is for a baby quilt, I modified it a bit by adding 1 1/2 more charm squares to the width, and two additional rows to the length.  I wanted this to be large enough for Lauren to use at night on her toddler mattress, although she hasn't really gotten the hang of sleeping under covers yet!

I was also feeling particularly brave yesterday and decided to hand-sew the binding to the back of this quilt.  I usually machine sew my binding, and to be honest the result doesn't bother me much.  I guess I'm not a "binding snob" . . .  yet!  But I was intrigued by the romantic notion I seem to hear about from all the other quilters - of curling up on the couch with my husband for several hours, chatting and watching tv while hand sewing binding.

I found this awesome tutorial that finally made sense of the hand sewing process for me.  And after a mere five hours, I can finally say that I get it!  It really does look pretty good, compared to machine sewing, but it sure did take a LONG time!  And it was kind of nice to spend time with my family while sewing, and be a bit more productive while watching tv . . . but did I mention that it took a long time?!?!  Well, at least I overcame my fear of hand-sewing, but I can't promise I won't go back to machine sewing binding, at least some of the time!

I'm linking up to Amy's Sew & Tell Friday.  Hop on over and check out the other finishes too!

Have a great weekend!

Mary

Sneak Peak - Lauren's Quilt

I was especially productive yesterday, and managed to make an entire toddler-sized quilt top!

My plan is to have this quilt completely finished by Friday, so I'm only giving you a sneak peak for now.  (Plus I'm having fun playing with a new camera lens!)

Aren't the owls fun?  My daughter absolutely loves this fabric.  She's been playing with the charm pack for a few months now, and it was time for me to get to work and make her a quilt with it already!

I also finished up my Pinwheel Sampler blocks for the week . . .

Getting tired of seeing these yet?  :-)
We still have four more weeks of block-making to go.
Then we'll start constructing our quilt top.  Fun!

Well, Lauren is getting restless and looking for trouble, and that means it's time for me to go!

Have a great week!
Mary

Sew & Tell Friday

I missed last week's Sew & Tell Friday due to major frustrations with a zipper at the 11th hour.
So this week I was determined to make a comeback!

I didn't have patience to deal with the zipper again, so I started with something in my comfort zone.

Coasters!

These aren't just any coasters.

They're the new cousins of the potholders I made on Tuesday for the Potholder Pass 2.

See?

They were meant to be together.

And I'm really grateful that these turned out well, because this next project . . .
not so much . . .

Don't you hate that when you spend a bunch of time working on something, and then it doesn't turn out well and you feel like you wasted your time?

We'll just call this a learning experience.  No more sewing while I'm tired!

At least the fabric is pretty - Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane.

On a happier note, today is my husband's birthday!

Happy 29th birthday to my best friend and favorite person ever :-)

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Be sure to check out all the other finishes over at Sew & Tell Friday.

Mary

I heart half square triangles :-)

I swear I've been sewing.
Really I have.
I just don't have a lot to show for it at the moment . . . just lots of half-finished projects!

You see, the problem is that the weather has been AWESOME, and we've been doing a lot of this . . .

. . . and a tad less sewing, and certainly much less time spent on the internet.

But I'm still here!

And that brings me to my new love of HSTs, or half square triangles.

It all started with Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along, especially this super-easy half square triangle tutorial. 

Now that I've been doing the quilt along for three weeks, I can't seem to stop making HSTs!

Here are my blocks for the week . . .

And then I just couldn't stop making HSTs, so I made these . . .

. . . which I'm not completely crazy about . . . but I think if I make future blocks with some white mixed in, I'll like it much better.  The fabric is called "Eva" by BasicGrey.

And finally on my HST-craze, I made these . . .

I'm so proud of my little pinwheels!  And the zig-zag is kinda fun too.  These are for the Potholder Pass hosted by Amy at During Quiet Time.  I used leftover bits from a Hushabye jelly roll to make these (leftover from this quilt and this quilt.)  I really hope my secret partner likes these!!!

And now that I got that out of my system, I can move onto some half-finished projects I have sitting around.  Here's hoping I'll have some finishes to share for amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday.  If you haven't already joined in the fun, you should really check it out.  It's great motivation to get those unfinished projects finished already, and meet some new people in blogland!

Hope you're having a good week . . . happy sewing!

Mary

you've got mail!

Today was a great day for mail . . . new sewing goodies!

First, 50 beautiful zippers from Zip It Zipper Supply:

I heard about this shop from Anna over at Noodlehead.  I used to buy my zippers one at a time from Walmart for about $2 apiece.  Then I discovered Zipit and I got this pack of 50 8" YKK zippers for $24 (including shipping.)  I'll do the math for you . . . that's 48 cents per zipper.  Awesome!

Jennifer, the owner, even included some cute little goodies from her other shop, KungFuCowgirl Kawaii Goods and Supplies.

So cute, and of course Lauren thought these were just for her.

Then, another package with my very first yard of Japanese fabric!

I got this great Kokka patchwork print from Hawthorne Threads, which is probably my favorite online fabric shop.  It's definitely the most user friendly and visually appealing online fabric shop I've visited.  They even feature customer creations that show each particular fabric in use.  I find that really helpful for estimating the scale of the printed fabric.  Oh yeah, and the owners are very friendly and provide excellent customer service.  And did I mention they do a weekly giveaway?  (Nobody's paying me to say this, I swear!)

Last, but certainly not least, is a tiny little package (envelope, actually!) that I received last week:

My very first quilt labels!  I ordered these from Sweetwater Street.  You may already be familiar with this company through their awesome fabric lines "Authentic" and "Make Life".

I'd really like to make a habit of labeling every quilt I make.  There are some great tutorials out there for making your own labels, which I might attempt in the near future.  Rachel has a super easy one here, and Julie has one here that uses Photoshop and Spoonflower.

Well, it's time for me to log off and head out to the the gym, because unfortunately sewing just doesn't firm and tone, you know what I mean?  :-)  (If sewing were exercise, I would be one fit lady!)

Happy sewing!
Mary

cabin fever and a new pattern

It's been a bit cold and rainy here in Myrtle Beach, and the little one and I are getting cabin fever.

She wanted to play in the rain . . . 

But I thought it might be a better idea to play with water inside, where it was warmer.

The good thing about cabin fever is that it makes me want to sew!  I downloaded Keyka Lou's newest pattern yesterday (only $5!), and since it's quick and easy I was able to make it while Lauren took her nap today.

Keyka Lou's Easy Reusable Grocery Bag

The apple fabric is from the Metro Market collection by Robert Kaufman.

And I didn't really mean to advertise Cheerios, but I didn't have any "Generic O's" handy.  :-)

I've never taken my own bags to the grocery store, but with a cute bag like this I might have to!

What are you sewing this week?

Mary

Back in the saddle again

I didn't do much sewing last week.  My parents were in town and my "sewing studio" just happens to also be the guest room!

It was kind of nice to take a break, though.  It gave me lots of time to "incubate" new ideas and plan what I want to do.  And now I'm back at it!

I started Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along this week, and I am loving it!  I started a week late, so I had to play catchup and sew two sets of blocks:

This is my first time making pinwheels and it's lots of fun.  I managed to line up my points pretty well thanks to my 1/4" foot (thanks Mom!)  This fabric is Chloe from P&B Textiles.  I've gotten a lot of feedback on Flickr that no one has heard of this line, and it's kind of fun to be using something outside the mainstream!

On Saturday the husband and the little one and I went to Wilmington, NC, where there just so happens to be a certain quilt shop that I LOVE.  It takes us about an hour and 15 minutes to get there, so I don't get to go often and it was a nice treat!  You should see the Amy Butler and Heather Bailey selection at this place!!!

Husband and little one went to the beach nearby so I could shop.

They had fun, and I got to shop in peace.  Everybody wins!

Have a great week!

Mary