Sneak Peek

Hello there! Just wanted to pop in and say hi. We moved about three weeks ago and we're still getting settled into our new place, so I haven't had much time for sewing. Our new place is smaller and I no longer have a sewing room, so I'm trying to figure out how to find a little sewing space for myself without making a mess that takes over our living area. It turns out downsizing is hard work! That being said, we love living near DC again, as well as friends and family, so we're very happy to be here.

I think I promised you a post about the Dr. Seuss quilt my mom made Lauren for Christmas. I snapped some pictures in a hurry before we moved, but the lighting wasn't good and I need to take some new ones next time we have good weather. In the mean time, here's a sneak peek-

Taking quilt pictures with a three-year-old is always fun :-)

I'll try to take new pictures soon. My mom did such a great job on this quilt!

And here's a sneak peek of a quilt I've been working on since before Christmas.

The fabric is Monaco by Monaluna mixed with some Mendocino by Heather Ross and Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry.

I've been agonizing over what fabric to use to use for the binding, but I think I've finally settled on Kona Ash. Now to find the time to actually do it!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Blogger's Quilt Festival is here! Hooray! (And welcome new visitors!)

Here's a quilt I just finished a few weeks ago (sorry regular readers!) but I'm so proud of it and couldn't help but to bring it out again for the festival. Without further ado, here's my Modern Meadow {x2} boy quilt!

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What do you do when you can't decide on just ONE quilt pattern to use?

Make two quilt tops and forget about having a back!

This side was inspired by this mini quilt by Ashley at Film in the Fridge.

And this side was made using Elizabeth Hartman's Mixtape Quilts II Pattern, which I LOVE. The directions were so clear, the cutting was super easy, and she even provides a guide for block placement so I didn't have to stress and rearrange my blocks 100 times. Thank goodness!

I used simple straight-line quilting on either side of the sashing.

I absolutely love how the quilting looks on this side!

The fabric I used is from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow line, which I'm completely in love with. I mixed it with Kona solids in white, navy, avocado, stone, and aqua.

This special quilt was made for my good friend Shannon who just gave birth to her sweet baby boy on Wednesday. Shannon and I met way back when we were 21 and working together and became fast friends. I will be forever indebted to her for introducing me to the wonderful world of modern fabric and modern sewing. Last August she posted about an Amy Butler giveaway on her blog. At that point I didn't even know who Amy Butler WAS! *gasp!* But once I clicked through a few links and started browsing modern fabric and patterns I was absolutely hooked. My very generous mom set me up with a sewing machine and all sorts of sewing supplies and the rest is history!

I had a blast making this quilt for Shannon since she's my only "real life" friend with an appreciation for modern fabric and modern quilt design. I mean, what other friend of mine will ever send me inspiration links from Crazy Mom Quilts and Flickr?! When I sew for my non-sewing friends I'm always a little afraid that they won't "get it" or might not necessarily love handmade gifts, so it was such a pleasure to sew for a friend with similar interests!

Now I just can't wait to see pictures of the new little man on his quilt!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Modern Meadow {x 2} = Double the Fun!

What do you do when you can't decide on just ONE quilt pattern to use?

Make two quilt tops and forget about having a back!

This side was inspired by this mini quilt by Ashley at Film in the Fridge.

And this side was made using Elizabeth Hartman's Mixtape Quilts II Pattern, which I LOVE. The directions were so clear, the cutting was super easy, and she even provides a guide for block placement so I didn't have to stress and rearrange my blocks 100 times. Thank goodness!

I used simple straight-line quilting on either side of the sashing.

I absolutely love how the quilting looks on this side!

The fabric I used is from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow line, which I'm completely in love with. I mixed it with Kona solids in white, navy, avocado, stone, and aqua. (Mr. PSP loves this fabric too, so I'll be using it to make something for us when I can finally get around to it!)

This special quilt was made for my good friend Shannon who's having a baby boy in less than two weeks. Shannon and I met way back when we were 21 and working together and became fast friends. I will be forever indebted to her for introducing me to the wonderful world of modern fabric and modern sewing. Last August she posted about an Amy Butler giveaway on her blog. At that point I didn't even know who Amy Butler WAS! *gasp!* But once I clicked through a few links and started browsing modern fabric and patterns I was absolutely hooked. My very generous mom set me up with a sewing machine and all sorts of sewing supplies and the rest is history!

I had a blast making this quilt for Shannon since she's my only "real life" friend with an appreciation for modern fabric and modern quilt design. I mean, what other friend of mine will ever send me inspiration links from Crazy Mom Quilts?! When I sew for my other non-sewing friends I'm always a little afraid that they won't "get it" or might not necessarily love handmade gifts, so it was such a pleasure to sew for a friend with similar interests!

Now I just can't wait to meet the new little man!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Sometimes you win!

Like many of you, I enter TONS of blog giveaways but never really expect to win.

Imagine my surprise when I won this fabulous mini quilt from Kristina Wilberg of Sew Domestic!

I had seen this mini on Kristina's blog back in May, so I was thrilled when I saw that she was giving it away! As part of the giveaway Kristina also promised to send some scraps. I was expecting, well, scraps, but instead this is what she sent . . .

Wow, thanks Kristina! Now I have plenty of fabric to make something fun and girly!

Be sure to visit Kristina's blog to ooh and ahh over her adorable new baby girl (born last Friday!) and stop by her Etsy shop Quilted Treasures for fun fat quarter bundles and other goodies.

Happy sewing!
Mary

At last . . . a finished "Man Quilt!"

Last January, I set out to make my husband a quilt.  A manly quilt.

He said it couldn't be done.  (The manly part, that is.)  But if there's one thing you can say about this quilt, it's definitely not girly!  I fear I may have gone overboard with all that Kona Black, buy hey, it's manly!  The rest of the fabric is Authentic by Sweetwater, which is such a great, unique line!

The back is mostly the "Dictionary" word print with a strip of patchwork at the top to make it a little more interesting.

I especially love the Authentic number print for my number-crunching husband who's getting his MBA in Accounting.

I really like this green stripe for the binding.  At first I was bummed that I didn't cut the stripes horizontally, but now I kind of like them running vertically.  (And yes, I machine stitched the binding to the back of the quilt.  Don't judge - this is a BIG quilt!  For me, at least.)

Here it is resting on our couch, where it will spend most of it's time!  I'm not crazy about my quilting (concentric diamonds) or thread choice (off-white.)  I wish I was comfortable with free-motion quilting, because I've heard that's easier to do on large quilts.  I was also really stumped on what thread color to choose.  Maybe I should have used a variegated thread?  Oh well, my husband likes it and that's what matters most!

The Man Quilt measures 70" x 80" and is by far my largest yet!  It took over my entire breakfast nook while I was basting it.  In this picture I'm standing where the kitchen table should be.  We squished it into the family room so that we could have dinner with my parents.  Yep, this is what it's like to live with a quilter!

 

All in all, this my least favorite quilt so far.  It's a little too bold and geometic and it was big and heavy and awkward to work with.  However, it's DONE and that is a very good feeling indeed.  And now Mr. PinSewPress doesn't have to steal my quilt that's way too small for him anyway :-)

I'm linking up to Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday.  Be sure to check out all the other great finishes!

Happy sewing!
Mary

DQS9 - Finished and in the mail!

After dragging my feet for at least a week, I forced myself to mail this doll quilt to its new owner today.  I think it's probably a good sign when you pour enough of yourself into a swap item that you don't want to let it go!  

If you're not familiar with the Doll Quilt Swap, all partners are secretly assigned so none of us knows who is sewing for us.  I'm anxious for my partner to receive her quilt because I think she'll like it!

When I gave you guys a sneak peek of this project, I was stressing about hiding my starting/stopping threads for the quilting.  You all had some AMAZING advice (thank you!) but in the end I decided to not stress about the backstitching showing and just go for it.  If you look closely you can probably see it in the picture, but I just decided it wasn't the end of the world.

My design was inspired by this gorgeous quilt on Flickr and I used solids because I know that my partner likes them.  I have to say that now I'm kind of hooked on solids too!  I used Kona Stone, Kona White, and 14 colors from my Kona Starter Pack.

I'm really happy with the way this quilt turned out.  Mr. PinSewPress likes it so much he asked me to make another one for us to keep.  When I can work up the motivation, I just might do that!  Someone on Flickr mentioned that this would make a great table topper with a vase in the middle, and I completely agree!  I think we just might "need" one of these for our kitchen table.

Here's hoping my package makes it to it's secret location safe and sound.  It's always a little nerve-wracking when your hard work is in-transit!

Next up . . . I finally finished the "man quilt!"  Pictures and a blog post coming soon!

Happy sewing,
Mary

The whole school of fish!

Remember when I was lamenting that I didn't have any super adorable goldfish in bags?

When I published that post back in July, I was mostly hoping someone would take pity on me and send me one teeny tiny goldfish.

However, I got much more than I expected!

When my blog friend Amy and I agreed to do a fun one-on-one swap, she said she wanted to make something for me based on one of my previous posts.

Just look at this amazing mini quilt she made for me!

I can't even tell you how much I adore this little quilt.  I just love Amy's version of the goldfish in bags!  The bags are linocut prints that Amy hand-carves on linoleum blocks from her own original designs.  The fish are hand painted with freezer paper stencils.  (If you'd like some of Amy's original goldfish in bags, she has some of her prints for sale in her shop.  And if you're curious about the linocut process, Amy did a great post about it here.)

I also adore the colors on this mini, all the great Make Life prints (one of my very favorite fabric lines!) and the great mix of hand quilting and machine quilting.  This mini is hanging in my sewing room and I love looking at it every time I go in there!

Amy also sent me this great handmade card, also with a linocut print.  This one is just perfect for a beach girl like myself!

(I haven't finished my end of the swap yet . . . but I'll be done by the end of the month!)

My goldfish luck didn't end there . . . almost as if they had coordinated it, I got this package in the mail on the very same day - a surprise from Mr. Pin.Sew.Press!

We have a policy of not getting each other birthday or Christmas presents.  Instead we like to give each other little surprises throughout the year.

Let me tell you, this was a huge surprise!  I had actually made peace with the fact that I'd never own these little guys, and I can't believe my husband went to the trouble of tracking these down! 

I'm happy to report that all my new fish are getting along nicely.

Thank you so much Amy and Mr. Pin.Sew.Press. for making my day!  I promise to take good care of my new pets :-)

Happy sewing,

Mary

P.S. - I think Blogger hates me . . . I can't get rid of all those extra spaces in the middle!  What's the deal?

WIP - Doll Quilt Swap

After much agonizing, I finally came up with a design I like for my first round of the Doll Quilt Swap.  I can't even tell you how much time I've spent scouring my partner's Flickr favorites and blog, but I think my "research" has paid off.  I'm pretty sure this is right up her ally.

Here's sneak peek of the progress I'm making.  I've had so much fun making my first all-solids quilt.  I used Kona Stone and Kona White as well as 14 colors from my Kona Starter Pack.  This little quilt is about 22" square, but I'd love to make a larger version of this someday, maybe as a baby quilt or a throw.

I still have to quilt the center, but one thing that's holding me back is that I need to learn how to hide my starting/stopping threads.  I usually just backstitch at the start and finish of my quilting lines, but on this project that doesn't look too good with the white thread showing against the stone colored fabric.  Any advice or links to a tutorial would be greatly appreciated!  I frequently hear bloggers talking about "pulling their threads through" or "hiding their threads" but I have no idea how to do this.  I still have so much to learn!


Happy sewing!
Mary

When blogland and the real world collide

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Robin of Fonville Farm . . . in real life!  As many of you know, it's a rare occasion when we actually get to meet our Flickr and blog friends in the real world.  This was definitely a special treat!  

Robin and I both participated in the Potholder Pass rounds 1 and 2, and we met online when I contributed to a quilt that a group of us made for her when she suffered an unexpected loss.  (For the full story about Robin's quilt, click here.)

Mr. Pin.Sew.Press. was kind enough to take a picture of us with Robin's gorgeous quilt.  See those nine mini pinwheels in the center?  They were made by me!  The other blocks were made by lovely and generous quilters from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway.  The quilt was assembled, bound, and quilted by the wonderful and talented Amy of During Quiet Time.

Robin, it was a pleasure meeting you and I hope our paths cross again someday!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Pin.Sew.Press. meets Gee's Bend Quilts

So I bet you didn't know that I spend my free time hand quilting Gee's Bend quilts, did you?

Okay, well not exactly. But our local art museum is hosting a Gee's Bend quilt exhibit until October, and part of the exhibit is a fun quilting bee.

To be honest I don't know the first thing about hand quilting, but it was fun to take a stab at it (ha ha ha.)

Here's my sad attempt at quilting a little heart.

And here's me trying to do a cheesy pose with a needle and thread, but of course you can't see it in the picture!

I wish I could have taken pictures of the quilts on exhibit, but unfortunately there was no photography allowed.  Bummer!  You'll just have to check it out for yourself.

And in totally un-sewing related news (but the same day), I also got a haircut!  I just couldn't leave off with that last picture of me with my shaggy hair :-)

Happy sewing!
Mary

The coolest quilting project I've ever seen

I was flipping through Quilter's Home Magazine today and came across this gem.

I've never seen anything like it.  Coolest.Project.Ever.


This fantastic VW Bug cover was made by Janice Jones, Maureen Orr Eldred and Carol Gier Becker of the Northwest Quilters' Guild in Portland, Oregon.  They crafted it for their annual quilt show.  Can you even imagine trying to tackle a project like this?!  I can't!

Check out their whole Flickr set here:  Making a VW Bug Quilt Cover
Just amazing!

Happy sewing,
Mary

Pin.Sew.Press. is on Quilt Story today!

I'm sure that by now you've heard of the fabulous blog Quilt Story, right?
I'm honored to be featured on their blog today!  Hop on over and check out all the fabulous quilts they've featured!
Happy sewing,Mary

Tiny quilts for tiny babies

My husband and I know a couple whose twins were recently delivered prematurely at 28 weeks gestation.  These amazing, tiny babies are fighters and they're growing stronger every day!

Since these babies will be staying in the NICU for a while, I decided they might need some colorful quilts to brighten their surroundings.

This one's for the baby boy, Tuller -

Front 

and back-

Tuller's quilt is made mostly with Moda's Make Life fabric.  I added Michael Miller's Groovy Guitars to the back because Tuller's daddy is a musician.

And this quilt is for Ada, the baby girl -

Front

and back

Ada's quilt is made with Tula Pink's Plume fabric, and a tiny piece of Groovy Guitars on the back for fun.

Both quilts measure approximately 28" x 31".  My hope is that they will bring a bit of cheer to this new family of four!

Please lift up a prayer for these tiny babies, that they will grow big and strong, and for their parents, that they will have strength and peace and hope during this trying time.  If you would like to follow their story, they're blogging about their journey here.

And so I tried to design a "man quilt"

I've been promising my husband a quilt for a while.

I've been scouring Flickr for inspiration, but nothing quite fit.

He was beginning to give up hope.

And then I happened upon these awesome quilts  (from none other than Red Pepper Quilts and I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts) and I immediately went to work with this pile of Authentic by Sweetwater (which has been sitting around since Christmas) -

and turned it into this -

Bold, huh?

The husband was pretty skeptical that I could make a quilt look manly.  But he gave me lots of feedback while I was laying it out, helped me make some design choices, and by golly, he likes it!  In fact I think he actually agreed that it's "manly"!!!!!

I'm hoping it's not too bold, but I really felt like I had to add a lot of black to up the "man factor."

Now it's time to sew these blocks together!  The finished quilt top should be 6' square, making it my largest quilt to date, and my biggest challenge to date!

Wishing you a happy and productive week!

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

Quilting Hangover

Well, I've done it again.
Stayed up waaaaaay too late sewing.
3:30am to be exact!
But I finished my quilt and it was well worth it.

I've been working on this quilt for a couple months now.  It's a gift for friends of ours who just had a baby, and I had promised myself I'd finish it by the baby's due date.  Well, the baby came three weeks early, but I still managed to meet my deadline since the baby was technically due yesterday :-)

This quilt is based on the Sweet Menagerie Nine Patch Quilt from the Moda Bake Shop.  I used Tula Pink's Hushabye fabric, which I absolutely love!  In fact, this quilt is a "cousin" of my first quilt.  I had tons of jelly roll strips left, so this pattern worked perfectly.

Here's the back:

And here's a another picture of the front.  In this one you can see how I quilted it.

(Yes, it's laying on the back of my car - part of my photography experiment of the day!)

The quilting was inspired by Ashley at Film in the Fridge.  I really love her methods of straight line quilting!

And this is my "Little Helper."  We really enjoyed the sun today.

I'm linking this to amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday, which was a great motivation to go ahead and get this quilt done!  So thanks for the motivation Amy, and now I'm off to nurse that darn quilting hangover . . . **yawn** . . . and figure out what to feed the family for dinner!