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

It's beginning to feel a lot like . . .

time to work on some holiday sewing!

I made this mug rug for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on Flickr. This group is entirely to blame for my mug rug addiction!

My mug rug was inspired by this awesome pincushion, and I used this free template for the design with Heat-n-Bond Lite. It was easier than I expected!

And here's a little sneak peek of a project I'm working on for someone on my Christmas list -

Fabric: Pure by Sweetwater
Block tutorial: found here in the Moda Bake Shop

How's your holiday sewing going? I'm way behind, as usual, because I'm a procrastinator! I like to think that I work better under pressure :-)

Happy sewing!
Mary

WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday sewing friends!

I had planned to show you some more completed mug rugs today, but I got a little distracted yesterday by a sick little one and some lovely custom orders that I should be able to show you in the next week or so. One of them is for matching mommy/daughter purses. How fun is that?!

Anyway, I just finished making my scrappy bindings and attaching them to the front of my mug rugs.

Looks like I'll be spending my evening hand-sewing binding in front of the TV. I hope there's something good on!

Happy sewing,
Mary

P.S. - If you own a sewing machine in the under $1000 range and love it, please share about it in the comments! A friend of mine is looking for a machine and I'd love to send her some suggestions. I use a BabyLock Decorator's Choice (which I love!) but I'd like to give her some other suggestions too.

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

WIP Wednesday

Happy Cinco de Mayo, sewing friends!

Being the wild girl that I am, I celebrated with a little sewing :-)

Here's what I've been working on . . .

potholders for the Potholder Pass 3 -







I can't even tell you how excited I am about these potholders. My secret partner requested "bright and modern," which is right up my ally! I just need to hand sew the binding to the back and these fun potholders will be done.


Next is a work in progress that's been sitting around since December -





Sad but true, this table runner has been sitting like this since Christmas! Everything but the binding is done. What's even more pitiful is that I've been using this on my dresser for at least a month . . . with no binding on it! (Can you tell that's my least favorite part?)


Looks like I need to hunker down and have a little binding party tonight. (Yup, that's how I roll!)


Have yourselves a happy Cinco de Mayo!
Mary

Pinwheeling my way to sanity

I really, really, really needed a break from the Mommyhood today.  I was just one whine away from my breaking point, and luckily my husband stepped in to the rescue.  And as a bonus, Lauren's Uncle C was in town today, so between the two brothers Lauren was thoroughly entertained and I had many glorious hours to sew and regain my sanity.  Phew!

I buried myself in pinwheel making and caught up on the last three weeks of Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along.

We only have one more week of block making left, then we start to assemble our quilt tops.  Yay!

I've also been working on the Man Quilt this week, and hopefully I'll have a completed quilt top to show soon.

After my marathon sewing session I felt much better, so Lauren and I celebrated by making brownies.  Sanity regained!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Mary

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hushabye Baby Quilt - Progress!

I've been working on this quilt for a while. I'm making it for friends of ours who just had a baby, and my intention was to have it done before the baby was born. She was due February 18th, but surprise! the little one decided to come along at the end of January instead!

I have my "sandwich" pinned together, so now I just need to decide how to quilt it. Decisions, decisions!