Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Tools, Baby!!

This week, I got tired of working on my nephew's Christmas quilt.. I think the black and white color scheme was getting to me.. I love color.  So I took a break (only four blocks left, so I'm sure I'll get it done in time, hopefully.. fingers crossed.) to work on something more colorful.. and polka-dotty. :)



So I started making a baby quilt out of some robot fabric and lots of dots, and even a tiny bit of gingham.  Can you tell where this is going?



The best part is.. I'm only using fabrics that I already had.  Except for the white.  I ran out and had to get a little more.

I'm drawn to colorful fabrics, so this is some super fun sewing!


Yum.


Only two more tools to go after this one..



I thought about a big button, or even a covered button to embellish the pliers, but since it's a baby quilt, I decided against it, and just sewed a gathering stitch in the shape of a circle, gathered it a little and filled it with a tiny bit of fiberfill, and then appliqued it down with a zigzag stitch.



It's all turning out to be lots of fun.  :)  This is what I have done so far.  I think I'm going to write this one into a pattern and put it on Craftsy.  I'm anxious to see what it will look like quilted and done.

 
 

Three tools down, two more to go. And then I should probably get back to work on my nephew's punctuation quilt, so it's done by Christmas!  I can't let my short attention span derail that project.  Why do I always want to start new things before I ever finish the old ones??

Hope you're having a great week!

xoxo




p.s. I almost forgot!  Monday, I looked on the Fat Quarter Shop website and there was Mod GeoCruiser!!!  I died.. and quickly came back to life.. and died AGAIN. I still can't believe it!!!  Thank you all for all of your kind words and support about that quilt and its pattern.  It's definitely living a life of its own! xoxo

 
 
**Linking up with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.
Thursday, September 19, 2013

Fall is in the air..and so is a makeover. :)

You may have already seen a couple of pictures from this post on Instagram if you follow me over there.  (I'm newbie "Instagrammer".. so sporadic and always forgetting to hashtag things..hehe)  But anyway, every now and then I get the urge to spray paint something.  So a few days ago, I decided I needed a spray paint fix. (I say this all the time, God bless the man who came up with the brilliant idea to put paint in a pressurized can!)

We had this little bench in our backyard, off to the side, wasting away.. it's really not sturdy enough to sit on, and has seen better days for sure.. I started thinking that paint might turn it all around.


Trash

I've also had the urge to plant lately, too.. And figured the two projects could work together for the good of our front porch.

Some washing, sanding, an entire can of primer, and two cans of black paint later..


Ta-Da!

Our front door is black, which is why I chose black, I guess.  I'm so happy with how it turned out. It now has a new life and is no longer destined to rot in the far corner of our backyard.

Still working on the punctuation quilt for my nephew..


And started playing with some other fabrics that have been hanging around forever, sewing up another sketch I had drawn out on graph paper.  I love graph paper, too.  Not quite as much as spray paint, but almost. ;)  And ric-rac.. love ric-rac. And fussy cut robots.


Or robots in general.. esp. this one on my son's pencil.


 So far, the fussy cut robot is the only one that's made an appearance in this project, but lots of dots are in the mix. Dots. Will always love dots. :)

My pattern copies finally came, so spent some time folding up some and packaging some of them to send out.. So fun!


All ready to go..


But had to stop by the Lego air show before heading to the post office..  the Lego air show that has now moved into and taken over the living room.


Some day I will miss the days when toys have taken over the front room, so I'm trying to stay relaxed about it..even though my inlaws are coming to visit in two days!  He is very busy having a childhood and using his imagination so for now, I will just walk around the Legos (or step on them by accident--grr!) and savor it. :)

Oh, and Buster has been shedding like crazy!  Look at this bucket o' Buster hair! 


Such a sweet big hairy beast.  The other day he walked along with us while we walked A. to school, and a little girl who is about a year and a half saw him and pointed and said, "horse!" haha  Ahh, he loves a good brushing!


Well, that is what life has been like lately, just about every day. 

Gonna link up with Really Random Thursday.  Hope everyone's week is sailing along smoothly!

xoxo
Saturday, September 14, 2013

Punctuation Sampler

Now that A. is back in school and it's all day this year, I've been working on something new. :) What? A post that's not about the bike quilt??  




Really!! :)

Back on the same day that I had sketched out the bike on graph paper, though, when I was trying to come up with something to enter into the Make it Right Challenge, I had drawn up a bunch of punctuation marks, too..I didn't make them for the challenge but I've always wondered how they would turn out.  Then I found this fabric, and knew I wanted to give it a try to see how it would go.



I think it's going to be a Christmas gift for my newphew. He's a freshman in high school this year, so hopefully it's cool enough, and masculine enough, etc. (i.e. unembarrassing and undorky enough for a 14 yr. old)-- I hope he likes it.  I've been meaning to make him a quilt since he was about four years old.



I'm using Triangles on a Roll again, and made all of these.. about 100 in all.. in about a half hour..



..with only this much waste.



I wish I had known about them a long time ago!

Anyway, my favorite punctuation mark so far is the ampersand, even though some of the points don't match.. argh! I tried so hard!


But I'm not sure how I'm liking it overall.  So much white space.  It still has one more row to put on the bottom..four more blocks.  So we'll see how it turns out.

Here is what is done so far.. What do you think?  Do you think a 14 year old boy would like it? It's on pace to be about 72x72, but I might add a border around it to make it a bigger twin size. Not sure yet.



It's fun sewing something different, though. :D  I just hope it turns out cute enough handsome enough? to give to my nephew. I'm sure he wouldn't come within 80 miles of my blog, so it's totally okay for me to say that. :D

In other news, apparently there's an airshow at our house, today. Right in the family room. 



Hope you're having a great weekend!

xoxo




Links: or so she says, funky junk
Monday, September 9, 2013

Pics of Nedra's and Lisa's Bikes

I'm so excited! Nedra and Lisa have both finished their bikes.  Well, Nedra's is all done and Lisa's top is done, and she is moving onto the quilting stage.  And I get to share them with you!!! :)

They were so kind and generous and patient to test the pattern for me!  And I love how theirs turned out!  I've really been looking forward to this day. :)

First up is Lisa's quilt top.  She used Madhuri, and it looks so cool.  I like that she changed up her border so she could use more of the cool prints. You can read her blog post here.



I think she also may be still planning to embellish her basket.

So cute!




Nedra's is equally amazing.  You can read all about it in her blog post today, here.  She used all solids and made it to match her own aqua cruiser with a white basket.  She said I could copy a photo or two from her blog post but my computer's not letting me, so I will post these "in progress" photos that she sent me during the construction phase. You'll have to head over to her blog to see her finished quilt, which also has the most amazing quilting done on it by Pat Roche! (look for the butterfly)

Nedra's actual cruiser, which she rides every day. :)

 

 Some in progress photos..



The solids look so crisp!  If you ever feel the need to make your own cruiser quilt, the pattern is available as PDF here on Craftsy, and will be available at other places very soon in paper form.  I'm supposed to receive the first paper copy today, and if all looks well, I can order some more.  Then you'll be able to also order paper copies on Etsy, Triangles on a Roll, Riley Blake, and Fat Quarter Shop!! :)  Eeek!


Ooh, also I can't say enough how easy HSTs go together with Triangles on a Roll.  I'm so glad Nedra wrote to me and told me about them.  I'm not kidding.  I'm getting ready to start on something new, and it will have over 120 HSTs, and I know I'll have them done in 30 minutes.  I think they are something like $12 per roll, but there are 800 on a roll so you can stretch them out over several projects.  So worth it! 

I kind of want to make another bike someday, with a red print for the frame, black polka dot tires, and linen background.. maybe someday..  I also think a guy one would be cool.. with flames coming out of the basket. haha  Maybe I should make a little accessory pattern to the pattern.. basket with flames. ;)

Thanks for reading!  I promise to stop blogging about this pattern soon! :)

Hope you're beating the Monday Blues!

xoxo
Friday, September 6, 2013

Finally Finally FINALLY done!!!

I know, I keep blogging about this quilt and pattern.... but the pattern is DONE!!! All the way finally done!  I finished it a few nights ago, and published it on Craftsy, and was waiting to blog about it on the same day as my two friends who are finishing up making theirs (they tested the pattern for me) but I'm dying to share it with you now. So.. I might be sharing their quilts with you in a few days.. They are each so different and unique.  That's what is so fun about this pattern.  It can be made in so many fun color/fabric combos.  As a teaser, Nedra's is all solids, and Lisa's is being made out of Madhuri. :) Here is the pattern cover.



So many fun things have happened b/c of this quilt!  The cover quilt is out of Gracie Girl, and b/c of that, Riley Blake is taking it to Fabric Fest next week! Eek. 
Is anyone going?  I wish I could go!  Also, Jina Barney from Riley Blake asked if she could hang onto the quilt until Houston Market so they can have it in their booth. WHAT?  Someone pinch me please! 



It will also be on the Triangles on a Roll website, which is also where I got the great HST papers that I used, and if everything goes as planned, the Riley Blake website!  ???  Okay, really.. pinch me.  I just drew a sketch on some graph paper hoping to win a prize in the Make it Right Challenge, that's all I ever thought.. and maybe I might put it on Craftsy and be over the moon if someone else made one.  So this is all kind of unbelievable to me! But so exciting!

For now, the pattern is available on Craftsy and can be downloaded as a PDF.  I will put some paper ones on Etsy when I get them.  It has seven diagrams, and easy to follow bullet points after each diagram.  And once the cutting is done, it goes together like a puzzle.  It's so fun to watch it come together. :)  Here's a pic of the pattern cover in progress.. it took a really long time.



But I'm really happy with the finished pattern. You'd never know it started as a 20 bazillion page novel that would have put even the most avid quilter to sleep.  Beth was proof reading it for me, when she sent me back a note that said, "this step is more like a commencement speech, needs to be condensed." hahaha!  I love her. She really is not one to mince words.  Nedra also helped me a TON with proof reading.  I couldn't have done it without them!

Pat Roche quilted it, (because nothing I machine quilt would be worthy of hanging in a booth anywhere-lol) and it turned out soo good.  She quilted wavy lines in the background behind the bike so it looks like it's moving. And flowers for the spokes of the wheels. 




And lots of different patterns in the negative space.  And around the flowers in the basket, she quilted floral patterns.  I love it!  







I wish I had gotten some more pics of the quilting in the negative space at the top of the quilt, but this is it for pics of the quilting.  I was in a bit of a rush.. Pat overnighted the quilt back to me, and I put on the binding, took a few pics outside, and then overnighted it to Riley Blake so it would make it there in time to go to Fabric Fest.  It was a little stressful.

Thank goodness for friends who showed up on a moment's notice at the park to help hold it up in hopes of getting a decent photo for the cover.  (She also brought her hubby to help!) :)  In the end, so the sun wouldn't make shadows on it, they just stood up on a picnic table. :) The playground was pretty shady, and I liked the one with the bright colors in the sun, and the blue sky above.  




If you give the pattern a go, I hope you will send me a pic of your version. :)


I have one more graph paper drawing that I drew out on the same day as I drew out the bike when I was trying to come up with a Make it Right Challenge design.. I think I'm going to try making that quilt next. :)

Thanks for reading along! Feels so good to have a Friday Finish! Happy Weekend!! :D  

xoxo
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