Praise for the Hubby

My husband informed me earlier this week that  I had gotten whatever was in our Amazon shopping cart.  He had wanted to order some pens and apparently didn't feel like taking the other item out soooo I got a copy of Patchwork, Please!.  I had been debating joining in the sew along so now that is settled :).  I had a coupon for an extra 25% off my entire purchase at JoAnn's so while picking up some batting and muslin for another project I also got these three books.  I have the Pretty in Patchwork Holiday book and this one about doll quilts looks like it has some fun projects.  The Tula Pink book has a couple of quilts that I wouldn't mind trying out and I have always dabbled in crochet and think these amigurumis are adorable!

He also ordered me these wonderful Heather Ross prints...my first!  I may not be able to bring myself to use them but they are so fun!  I see more Heather Ross and Munki Munki fabrics in my future.

He didn't really have much to do with this purchase other than letting me have his credit card :)  These will hopefully be made into a purse this weekend.

 

One more bit of praise and I promise I'll be done (are you jealous yet?).  I took my bottom of the line Singer sewing machine to a free motion quilting class last night.  I had always been a little proud of the fact that I could accomplish so much on a POS machine--but not last night.  I'm not sure what happened, but it was making a terrible sound and I wasn't able to lower the feeders and it just wasn't pretty.  After telling Hubby that it was time for a new machine, his response was, "Ok, we'll see what we can do."  So today I start shopping.  Top features on my list WIDE THROAT, NEEDLE DOWN, automatic thread cutter, knee bar, and automatic needle threader.  I don't need a whole bunch of fancy stitches or embroidery stuff really.  Any ideas of what a good machine would be for me?

Pattern Play

I'm not really sure how it happened but I got really popular this week.  Well, not me, but my quilts and such :).

Since Sunday I have taken custom orders for my first quilt (I'm a little nervous), a comforter (for a friend, so no big deal), and a purse.

The purse shouldn't be a big deal.  I know exactly what fabric the lady wants for the main body of the purse and the lining and accents shouldn't be hard.  Although the pattern is poorly written, I've made it a couple of times and know what changes need to be made.  My only obstacle is finding time to get to the fabric store and actually make it.  Between the holiday weekend and the typical chaos of my life it may be rough for awhile.

The toddler bed comforter is for a friend that has bought many items from me in the past so I'm not worried about her.  She has picked her two main fabrics and I just need one to find one that ties them together a bit.  Oh I told her I could do a pillowcase as well, but that shouldn't be a big deal either.

But the quilt...I was given this picture

(Source of this photo is known)

 

She said she likes this design but would prefer less white.  After sitting down and playing with the pattern a little last night I came up with this:

It still has a little bit of white to break up the sections but the colors are the main focus.  The larger middle strips will be 5" square and the smaller strips on either side will be 3" x 5" with the white being 2" wide.  She is providing the fabrics so I'm not sure yet what I'm working with.  What do YOU think? 

All of that plus in my typical fashion, I have waited until the last minute to do the borders of this round of the Mystery Round Robin.  I know what I want to do so at least that part is out of the way.  And there are a few earbud pouches that need to be made and mailed.

I Think My Walking Foot Was Drunk

My Obrit top was finally basted and ready to quilt--perfect for the Friday Night Sew In!  I grabbed a Virgin Bloody Mary and got to work.  I used my walking foot with the little bar as a guide and even remembered to lengthen my stitches (remember I've only quilted three full size quilts before and two were pretty much stitch in the ditch).  I thought I was doing pretty good until I looked down and saw that my walking foot was definitely not going straight despite my guide.  Does anyone else have this problem?  And how do you fix it?!

The lines actually look straight in this one.  Either way, it's done and I'm not redoing it.  The binding is attached and just needs to be finished.

The February block of the Riley Blake Mystery BOM.  I think this will make a great little girl quilt when it's done!

A little bit of progress on the Scrappy Swoon Quilt.  Lots more blocks have been pieced.  Just a few more and I can put it all together.

 All of the strips for my Broken Herringbone quilt have been cut and divided into sections.  Can't wait to get started on MY first quilt!

I also decided on a new layout for my former Sea of Stars Quilt.  I was running out of some of my fabrics plus it was just taking me WAY too long.  I think the recipients will still enjoy it :).  Squeak was testing it out for them.  He approved!

I finished paper piecing the block for my Modern She Made Swap partner.  The center looks a little messy so I'm trying to come up with some sort of way to disguise it.  A button?  An applique?  I think it will be made into a large combination triple zip/open wide pouch.

 A little more progress to share...

 My Spring Sampler is coming along nicely

and the Winter Wonderland Sampler is slow and steady.  It only gets worked on when a have a spare minute.

Linking up with Let's Get Acquainted, Anything Goes & BOMs Away Monday.

A New Start

I didn't do any sewing yesterday but I did cut nearly all of the pieces for my Broken Herringbone Quilt.  I'm running to the LQS on my lunch break to pick up a couple of solids to throw in the mix then I'll be ready to start!  This is the first quilt that I'm making for myself.  It's part of my living room re-do :)

I'm told I get some sewing time this afternoon so we'll see what I can accomplish.  Maybe the Orbit quilt will finally get basted...

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

P.S. I do have to add that one upside to using Bloglovin' instead of Google is that I can follow any and all blogs no matter what their format.  There are several that I have been unable to follow previously so YAY! for that! :)

Need vs. Want

Well, I stuck to it this weekend...doing what I need versus what I want, that is.  I didn't manage to do much.  Sunday was the lousiest I've felt during either of my pregnancies and Squeak wasn't helping the matter by being unusually grumpy and clingy (there may be another tooth in our near future).

Friday I managed to get six earbud pouches completed and photographed.  They will be available in my Etsy shop VERY shortly.

And Saturday night was dedicated to testing one of my paper pieced patterns.  One little change and it will be ready for the Craftsy shop (and maybe Etsy too, now that I think about it)  Edited and now available for free for a limited time on Craftsy.   I have TONS of patterns ready for testing just not enough time to give them a shot.  This little profile of a bunny ended up becoming a cute little Easter pillow.  Kind of an odd size due to my miscutting of the borders.  Do they make 15 x 15 pillow forms?

And the back.  A simple envelope closure since I didn't have any invisible zippers on hand.  The entire pillow was made using Vintage Modern.  I have a fat quarter bundle of the entire collection and had been waiting for a quilt to inspire me but I've decided to just go ahead and use it when and how I want :).

So like I said, not a whole lot, but it was stuff that NEEDED to be done.  I will be trying to continue this trend even if it means putting off some of my other items (BOMs, Orbit Quilt, Sew Alongs, etc.).  Ugh, it makes me sad and stressed just thinking about it!

Hope everyone has a great Monday and I will be linking up with Plum & June, Anything Goes, Fabric Tuesday and Linky Tuesday this morning.

A Couple of Questions...

1. What is this I'm hearing about Google Reader shutting down, and what does it mean for me?
2. Do you ever feel like you have over committed to Quilt Alongs, Sew Alongs, Swaps, etc?  How do you say no to the fun new ones that pop up?  How do you choose which ones to "let go" even though you already made a couple of blocks?  I want to continue to participate in ALL of them, but I really need to build up inventory for my upcoming craft shows and if you saw the state of my wallet you would agree that there needs to be some ME sewing fit in somewhere.

I would love to hear how all of you manage your time and commitments.

Now on to less serious matters:

I finished up my Lucky Stars March Block.  I started it on Friday when I needed a break from the chaos of party prep.  I got three of the four sections completed then ran out of my solid that I was using (NO!!!)  I wasn't even sure where it had come from and my LQS was closed for the day so it got set aside.  After a quick trip yesterday I managed to pick up a VERY close match (it could be the same one, not really sure).  And as Squeak's toy likes to say, TA DA!

I put these three paper pieced patterns up for debate on the Modern She Made Swap.  The vast majority liked the top left so that's what I'll be going with.  I'm open for suggestions of what to make.  I was originally thinking of a large bag but now I'm thinking maybe a medium pouch and a couple of small items to go with?

I'm also planning on putting the patterns on Craftsy if anyone is interested. Free for the time being (maybe forever, we'll see).

Tonight is the basting of the Orbit Quilt!

Party Post

Most of the last week was spent getting everything ready for Squeak's 1st birthday.  I did manage to get a bit of sewing done in my spare time :)

My Orbit Quilt Top is complete!  Now I have until April 1st to get it quilted and bound.  I'm not going to hold my breath...

My March block of the And Sew On is done

I was accepted into the Modern She Made Swap on Flickr.  After reading and re-reading my partners likes and dislikes I came up with this little bundle.  I'd love your thoughts!  I was thinking a tote, a pouch, and possibly a covered journal.  I bought quite a bit of fabric and I play to keep making items on her list until I run out of fabric or time.  The theme this round is stars.  A star must be incorporated somehow (fabric, quilting, design, etc.) and I have several ideas of how to make this work.


Now about that birthday party:

 

Sorry for the extremely blurry picture!

 

A closer view

Target did a pretty good job on our cupcakes and the white ones were delicious (chocolate--not so good).

It took him a minute to get started since there was a lot going on but once he got the hang of it...

He looked like this!  He has tons of new toys to play with and even more to come!  I hope it was the best first birthday possible :).  He deserved it!

Linking up to Let's Get Acquainted at Plum & June Owen's Olivia , Anything Goes, and BOMs Away Monday.

There's a Reason

WARNING:  This post is kind of all over the place-- :P

Lately I haven't been quite as productive as usual.  I haven't been able to do any sewing in the evenings because I have been exhausted and have had absolutely no energy.  BUT there is a reason and hopefully I will start to feel a little better before too long.

Baby #2 is due October 19th.  I'm trying to figure out how we're going to make it all work.  We have a small three bedroom house (one of the bedrooms is my sewing room) and I'm not quite sure how we're all going to fit...at least I have a little time to figure it all out :)

On to quilty things:

I am going to attempt to finish my Scrappy Swoon Quilt in hopes of entering it into the Sew-vivor Competition.  It is the thing that I am most proud of creating to date.  The only problem is that the deadline is March 11th, I have to spend the next two weekends doing birthday prep and the actual party, and the top isn't even complete, not to mention the quilting and binding!

Happy, non-stressful things:

 I got packages in the mail!

I finally got some of the Olive the Ostrich fabrics!  I have been wanting these since I found out about them.  One of my Triple Zip Pouches was the random winner of a gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics.  I also picked out a few good fabrics to have one hand just in case.

I also won a pack of Aurifil thread!  I've never used it before but have heard wonderful things.

I also signed up for a free motion quilting class at our LQS for the end of the month and am so excited!

My March Goals:

1. Make 20+ earbud pouches to fill orders and stock up my shop.
2. Make 10+ zippered pouches for craft show inventory
3. Finish piecing, quilt, & bind my Scrappy Swoon Quilt.
4. Woodland Sampler March Block
5. Mystery Round Robin Borders

And if I have time:

1. OKC MQG February & March Blocks
2. And Sew On February & March Blocks
3. Sugar Club March Block
4. Lucky Stars March Block
5. Orbit Quilt
6. Which Way Quilt
7. 3 Sea of Stars Blocks

It seems like a lot but I may enlist the help of a babysitter one or two days to help me get caught up!

Hope everyone has a great day!