Sunday, September 30, 2012

hello? anybody still there?

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit! I don't have any awesome excuses. No crazy stories to tell. I wish I did. Maybe I should make something up just to make the blog more exciting. Nah. I'm just not feeling that creative today, sorry!

Some of what I've been working on I can't show you. It's that time of year, you know? I have so many projects going that need to be finished. But, you know how easily distracted I am, right? After I taught the young gals to sew buttons last weekend I just kept sewing mine. Then I added some embroidery. It actually came out pretty cute.....
 I've also been working on getting all of our London photos into a scrapbook. I haven't scrapbooked in a long time! I'm really enjoying doing it again.

Check back tomorrow for a pattern review and new sewing project. Oh, and this week is Crafty Tuesday again so I'll have some more fun stuff to share with you soon! Hope you had a great weekend.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

learning to sew

Some of the junior high girls at church indicated to me that they would like to learn to sew. We synced our schedules (ok, theirs really! Those girls are BUSY!) and decided to begin this morning. I thought it would be fun to start with.....
BUTTONS!

I set the girls up with embroidery hoops, white cotton fabric, needles, needle threaders, scissors and all kinds and colors of buttons and thread. We looked at some fun pictures on Pinterest to get ideas, I taught them the basics of needle threading and button sewing, and turned them loose.
 It was great to see their creative juices flowing. Each button picture is going to be quite different when it is finished. They will have something fun to hang in their bedrooms and will have learned a valuable skill in the meantime.
I told the girls that when sewing and crafting there are no real rules, only guidelines. Oh, one rule actually. There must be chocolate. They liked that rule!

The girls want to learn to sew on the machine too. We are going to make drawstring bags next time we meet. I can't wait!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

my other favorite hobby

Even before I began crafting and sewing I loved to sing. I wish I had the picture of my sis and I in our children's choir robes with the big blue bows tied around our necks. I can picture it in my head. I have loved to sing for as long as I can remember. When I graduated from High School, I travelled for a year with an international cast of Up With People. This weekend, I flew down to Houston, TX and had the opportunity to visit with four others who travelled with me, 30+ years ago....
 Charlotte, Kendall, Me, Leigh Ann and Adraine

I stayed with Leigh Ann this weekend and sang with her church choir in their Meet the Composer events.
 How's that for a big choir? Leigh Ann and I are in the front row on the left side. The composer this year was Joseph Martin. We had the opportunity to get to know him and his lovely wife, to sing his compositions under his direction and to listen to the two of them perform. It was so much fun! Here are Leigh Ann and I with Joseph...
I'm back home again, catching up on laundry and finding my way back to crafty endeavors!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Homecoming 2012

Junior year mums (Ally and her pal Chloe)

And the princess is off to the dance....


Thanks to Chloe's mom Ana for the beautiful pictures!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Nine patch block swap


I've never made a quilt with Kaffe fabrics. I love them, they are gorgeous, but I have never been inspired to make a quilt with them. Not sure why. Well our current block swap at TQA is Kaffe nine patches. We each made 90 nine patches using Kona Porcelain and any Kaffe we wanted. Not surprisingly, mine were mostly polka dots and spotty fabrics.

On Saturday I stitched them all together. All 90 blocks in one quilt top. I was inspired by this quilt I saw on Pinterest. The quilt on Pinterest has a tiny scrappy border but I have decided to leave my topper with no border, more modern I think and I like it this way. I'm trying to decide what color to bind it in though, any advice? I don't want to do it in the porcelain because it will get dirty too fast.

Thinking maybe I will pick up one of the colors and bind it in a solid. Not sure yet...

Sunday, September 9, 2012

sewing with my "sisters"

Yesterday our small group, Seams like Sisters, had an all day sewing party. Here are a few pictures to show you what some of my sewing pals are working on.....

Sandy was our hostess. We always have so much fun at her house. She is making quilts for her three grandchildren for Christmas. Here's a finished Star Wars top for her grandson. Isn't it cool?


Diann is our resident longarmer (every small group needs one!). She was on a roll yesterday. A completed baby quilt top for her niece....

Two adorable fall pumpkin panels turned into quilts for her little neighbor girls (so clever how she turned panels into darling quilts! The other one is mirror image of this one).
And after an emergency run to Hobby Lobby for some polka dots, two cute Christmas panels turned into cute quilt tops too. (the red one will get one more, polka dotty border). Way to go Diann! You win the prize for most projects finished in a day.
 Joellen is our hand appliqué expert. I wish I had a better picture of the quilt blocks she's been working on. So beautiful!

 Carol is the queen of bindings. Finally, she was binding a blooming nine patch quilt that she made for herself a long time ago. Why do we always put ourselves last on the list?
 I didn't get pictures of Ellen W (who was whipping out baby quilt tops left and right yesterday! She almost caught Diann, but not quite) and Alice (who worked on several projects including binding up a cute mini quilt with a kitty on it.)

Oh, you want to know what I worked on? ONE THING! I arrived at 9AM with a box full of nine patch swap blocks, all made with different Kaffe fabrics and I stitched the final seam in this quilt top just after 7PM.

 I promise to get a better picture of it for you this week. I was so proud to get it all together! It's way bigger than I expected it to be (and I did the math. I have a degree in accounting people! You'd think I could figure these things out).

Hope you had a productive weekend as well.... if you had half as much fun as I did you're doing really well!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Crafty Tuesday! and a fusion blanket update

Today was the first day of a new tradition here at ellyn's place.... Crafty Tuesday! On the first Tuesday of each month I am opening up my home to all my girlfriends who do any kind of crafting. Today Melissa came and brought her scrapping goodies. You should probably check out Melissa's blog if you haven't already. It's pretty awesome! She was making embellishment treats for other gals she is meeting on a retreat this weekend.
I forgot to get a picture of Lori who was stitching together a little pillow from a rug hook kit her daughter had made. Very cute! I'll get her next time. Oh, and here's a picture Melissa took of me (yes, it took about 20 tries to get a picture where I wasn't making a total goonie face.) Do you see what I was working on?

 It's my fusion blanket! I've made a lot of progress (although I did not reach my goal of finishing the blanket in August. Darn.) Sixteen blocks finished and joined! Not bad...
 Here's the back...
You should check out all of the blankets in this crochet along. The flickr group is here. So many cool variations! It's never too late to join in the fun.

Two more rows of blocks and I can start on my border.

Monday, September 3, 2012

studio tour

I've been busy cleaning, straightening, rearranging and redecorating my sewing space. I thought this would be a good time to give you a little tour, before I mess it all up again! It's not a huge space, but it's all mine & I love it. The first thing I did was pull my two IKEA tables away from the wall to give me one big workspace in the middle of the room. This way I am not staring at the wall all day while I sew! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!
 Do you like my pretty bunting? I found it in a little town in England when we were there and I thought it would be so festive in my studio.

The next thing I did was recruit a hunky ladder climber (thanks honey!) to hang all of my wonderful mini quilts gallery style up near the ceiling. This is my new view when I sew! So much better than before. Only 2 of these quilts were made by me. Others were received in swaps and gifts from fellow quilters near and far.
 Oh and do you like those big ceramic buttons next to my clock? I thought they were a fun addition (and yes, that's my hunky ladder man in the hallway!)
 This side remained basically the same, my comfy sofa and my duck pond quilt. This last picture is a bit dark, thanks to the beautiful sunshine streaming through the blinds. I took down my valance which had faded terribly through the years from the sun.
And that's ellyn's place! What do you think? I can't wait to get back in there and mess it all up again. Happy long weekend to you!