Therapy

Scheisch you guys. 558 comments? Good thing I have nothing else to do this weekend. (yeah right) I showed my husband all the comments, and I think for second he thought I was really cool. And by the way…….you didn’t really have to tell me your deep dark secrets. I was totally kidding, but I got a really good laugh out of some of you (nice to meet you all by the way), and I feel much better about myself too.

This week was stressful. After a few pitty party days I indulged in some cheap therapy…sewing. I decided to make a project I could complete in one day, which would have been a good idea except I started five projects instead. Small projects, but still projects.

And since I really don’t need three more table runners and pot holders, these are in my neglected shop.

See you Monday with giveaway results!

Amish Fabric

Here is my cute little stack of fabric from our trip through Amish Country.  The stack below is my mother in law’s, who is visiting with us from Idaho this week.  She wanted a quilting lesson and a spring table runner for Mothers Day this year, so that’s on the agenda for today.

And…. I leave you with a picture of heaven in a cream stick from Amish Country.  It definitely added more love to my handles just in time for swimsuit season.  Awesome. 

   

And Linda….I couldn’t leave a reply to your comment, but I will make sure to wave in your direction next time I get down that way!  Or have a chance meeting at Millers Dry Goods maybe?  As long as cream sticks are involved afterwards, of course.  :)  And if you ever need Target therapy…there are five by me.

My friend in Amish Country

Isn’t he cute?  Or she.  A little thick around the middle wouldn’t you say?  We had a nice trip through Amish Country.  Its refreshing and beautiful, and I’m pretty convinced I could fit right in.  Except I’d like a washer and dryer, and a hot water heater, and a microwave.   I bought some cute fabric, mostly restocking favorites I’d used up, but I forgot to take a pic so that will come later. 

   I jumped on the band-wagon late, but I’ve decided to join Amanda Jean’s 9 patch quilt along.

And of course another project, because I wouldn’t feel complete without multiple unfinished projects in the sewing space. 

Dresden

I decided it was time I took a shot at the Dresden Plate. I used the handy dandy little template in the next pic. It was easy just like the template said, but definitely not quick and easy. And I even cheated and machine appliquéd it instead of hand stitching. The only thing I didn’t like about this template is it doesn’t tell you how many pieces you will need to make one block. I started with 4” strips, so it took some guesswork to finally figure out I needed 20 pieces. (someone kindly pointed out its actually 20 pieces, not 22 like I previously wrote)

I won’t be making a full dresden plate quilt anytime soon, but I do love the look of it. Even if it is machine stitched.

ps. My sweet mother in law is here for a visit. We're going to visit Amish country tomorrow, and my favorite hidden quilt shop. I will take some pictures to share, its beautiful down there. Be back next week, have a great weekend!

Summer Skirt

Patterns and I have a hate-hate relationship. I loathe them, they might as well be written in Arabic. So while I was home my one sewing goal was to pick my Mom’s pattern loving brain and figure out how to make this skirt. We made a trial run first, which was good since I tend to like my skirts to hang around my hips and not way up yonder. So after a couple small alterations I had myself a nice summery skirt. Now that I’m feeling more confident with my pattern following skills I’m going to make myself this little number. Totally Joking….although its very sassy.

And the best part? I match my Mom’s kitchen curtains. Now Vanessa and I can skip around the yard in our Sound of Music-ish skirts together. How about it Vanessa? You wear the table cloth and I’ll wear the curtains.

And as you can tell we made it back to Cleveland safely. Ben was an angel on the plane and we managed the whole trip without any cranky old man looks in our direction. Which might be a first. :)

A little hand

Don’t look too close.  I am seriously lacking in the embroidery skills department.  Lets just say I un-intentionally went for a “handmade” look….cough cough.  But despite that this was a fun and fast project that shows off my little man’s hand so I can display it on the wall like a proud mama.  I’m sure he’ll really love it hanging on his wall when he’s 17.  Yep, I’m sure.

I’m making my way back to Cleveland today.  Traveling for 9.25 hours (including layover) with my 2 year old.  I’m feeling cranky already.  Luckily he is a great traveler, but it still puts my stomach in knots.  I’m sure you all can relate.  Wish me luck!

Fabric…

I bought some new fabric. I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone with the fabric buying. I always tend to buy boyish retro prints. So here’s some girly additions, some I’m just restocking, and the Wee Play on the bottom is the binding for my quilt that someday I’ll finish. Its so nice to be by multiple quilt shops here. In Cleveland there is nada.

Last year I bought this chair at a garage sale for $2.00.

I finally got it painted and made into the perfect naughty chair for Grandpa and Grandma’s house. Not that they will ever put him on it. That’s my job. He’s been so unbelievably spoiled here I’m pretty positive he’s going to be a little hellion when we get home to Cleveland. Not looking forward to that.

I’m think I inhaled my fair share of black mold while sanding this chair down. Not that it can be any worse than me drinking 28 cans of Diet DP since I’ve been here. Actually its Diet Dr. Thunder….cheap Walmart style. What are you guys doing this weekend? Here in Poulsbo, WA we have Viking Fest. Its quite the shin-dig with a parade and all.

“B”

B stands for Ben, or bad boy.

Its a dang good thing he’s cute cause he is naughty busy.

Appliquéd shirts are easy, and super inexpensive to make. This t-shirt was at Walmart for $3.50. All you have to do is iron the fabric to the appliqué material (I buy heat-n-bond from the bolt at Joann’s) cut out the shape, and iron it into place on the t-shirt. Then zig zag or blanket stitch around the edges to make it permanent. Easy peasy.

Wee Play

This was my first jelly roll experience and I’m hooked. Especially since I have every fabric from my favorite line in this quilt and it came in one big roll. The inspiration came from my favorite pattern by the lovely Camille. She has a similar version for sale here. It took a whole jelly roll plus 6 strips from my stash and ended up with a 50” by 70” quilt top. And no big surprise…I love it.

Herb pot

This was part of my Mothers Day gift this year.  Again.  She requested I re-plant it for this year.  So if you need a really…really last minute gift for your Mom or yourself, make an herb pot to sit outside on the patio where you can clip fresh herbs all year long.  And it smells YUMMY.

Happy Mothers Day!

Inspiration

My Mom is a quilt lady. I caught the quilting disease from her. She has packs and piles of quilts around her house, some she’s made, and some are family quilts and antiques she’s collected here and there. So I thought I’d post a few because they are too pretty not too share. Plus lets face it, I’ve got nothing else to post about.

She made this circle quilt a few years ago. Each circle is pieced with raw edges so with use it gets a cute shabby appearance. Except its been hanging on the wall for 3 years….so when it gets used, it will get cute and shabby.

This red and white one I LOVE. Its all hand quilted heavily. It’s an antique, and obviously made by someone with more patience than anyone under this roof. There is a similar quilt but yellow instead of red in the final (boo-hoo) issue of Country Home that I've been staring at. There is definitely something like this in my quilting future. Except not hand quilted.

I love a vintage wedding ring quilt. Especially this one made with vintage feed sack fabrics and hand quilted. I’m hoping she won’t notice if this disappears accidentally into my suitcase. Not likely.

And last but not least this flower quilt made by Mom. The pattern is from Buggy Barn Quilts I believe. Our friend quilted this on a long arm and I love how she left the petals of the flowers un-quilted. It gives them a raised, almost appliqué appearance. This one is on my (guest) bed so I get to look at it every night.

Broach Making

Today was make-a-broach day.  I can’t say I did anything else productive today, besides eat a massive chocolate donut.

  This little broach was made from some Wee Play scraps.  And this little broach was EASY with a cherry on top.  I sewed my largest circle to a piece of felt the same size for sturdiness, and then just cut out circles in different sizes until I was satisfied with its shabbiness.  I stitched with my machine a little X under the button to keep them all together, then hand stitched the button on.  The back will eventually be one of those nice little sew on broach clasps, but for now its a safety pin…..don’t tell.

I even managed this flower broach.  It matched my pink shirt today.  You can find the template for this flower here.   And wouldn’t it be cute to make the card as a flower like she has pictured but with the broach you can remove and wear?  Too bad Mothers Day is 2 days away or I would have made hoards of them.  And next year I’ll forget.

For this broach I used appliqué material to make each layer stiff, and I sewed around the inside of each layer with my machine.  Not as easy as the first one, but still….pretty easy.

Happy Mothers Day!

4 squared finished

I finished this off before I left on my trip home. I love how it turned out, the colors remind me of ice cream flavors. I timed how long it took me to quilt it with a medium sized stippling….1 1/2 hours (including snack breaks of course). Not too shabby considering I had to re-wind my bobbin four times. Now if I could only figure out a faster way to baste the quilt….preferably where I don’t have to do it at all.

The backing is the Alexander Henry Apples and Pears. They are so cute, I haven’t used them in anything for myself yet since they are very girly, but with this it matched perfectly. And I had it already, which is always a plus.

Jelly Rolled

I finally bought my first Jelly Roll.  In my favorite fabric line, that is getting hard to come by.  And I had the guts to cut into it last night.  The weather in Seattle has been so nice I haven’t been sewing since we got here, but maybe tonight.  Today we are busy playing with these little guys…..

 

Aren’t they cute?