Craft-A-Little

Well, I still can’t upload a photo to my blog.  I keep forgetting to have my IT dept take a look at it.  I think that the problem is that I am trying to upload photos that are too big.  So, I need to learn how to make them smaller before uploading them.  I am sure that I will learn that soon!  In the mean time…I am using flickr.  Unfortunately, I can’t get my blog to link to flickr and I don’t know what the deal is with that.  But…my IT dept isn’t home tonight, so it will have to wait.  For now, I will just link you to photos on flickr. 

I have a few things to share…first…I finished my doll quiltfor DQS9.  It isn’t as fancy as most of the ones that people are making.  I kind of feel like mine isn’t as cool as everyone else’s.  But I really like it.  And Little Helper keeps asking me if it is hers.  I have had to promise that I will make one for her.  But since I put the first letter of my partner’s name on the back, I have told her that hers will have an A for her name on the back and that is how she will know it is hers. 

I am also working on the sleep sack for my neice that will be born in September.  It took me a while to choose fabric, but I finally did!  Here is what I chose.  I kind of went back and forth on whether I wanted to follow the same idea that AMH did in the book and do 2 in squares for the patchwork front or if I was going to switch it up and do something different.  In the end, I decided 2 in squares (well, I cut them to 2.5 and finished they are 2 in).  I decided on the squares for 2 reasons:  I really like how it looked in the book done that way and I feel somewhat short on time and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time doing something and then end up not liking it. 

I did think that rather than doing a 20×24 in rectangle as suggested in the book, I cut out my pattern front and used it as I went to just sew together enough squares to cover the pattern.  I think that this picture shows what I mean.  And here is the fabric not covered by the pattern ease. 

Now I have 2 decisions to make. 

1. What fabric should I used for the back?  My husband has suggested thisone.  This fabric looks totally different in person than it does in thie picture.  I was really trying hard to figure out if it was the same one.  I was thinking the clouds.  What do you think??
2. Do I want to try to add a zipper?  I really prefer sleep sacks with zippers, but I am not sure if it is a good idea to add a zipper the first time I make it.  I am not sure if I am that experienced of a sewer yet!  I have to go to Joann’s tomorrow for some flannel lining and velcro anyway, so I might pick up a zipper and see how things go!

I am hoping to have this sleep sack done this weekend!  Hopefully I will be sharing finished photos of this by the end of day Sunday.  I also have to admit, that if I have a little girl, I might totally copy the sleep sack that AMH did in her book.  I just so LOVE the one that she did in her pink Little Folks Voile.  It is also possible that if I have a boy, I will just copy it, but in blue. 

I love baby sleep sacks.  They are pretty much my favorite piece of a baby’s wardrobe. 

Here is Little Helper in my favorite one that she ever had, sleeping in our bed when she was 2 months old.

It is hard to tell in this picture, but it is white with tiny little pink polka dots on it and pink edging.  I got it on sale at Pottery Barn Kids shortly after she was born. 

For Mother’s Day, my husband and Little Helper gave me Anna Maria Horner’s latest book Handmade Beginnings and there is a pattern in it for a baby sleep sack and I NEED to make one.  But I have decided that I actually need to make 2.  I want to make one for my baby, but I am going to wait until after he/she is born so that I can make it gender specific.  And it won’t be used right away anyway- this baby is due in August! 

The second one that I need to make is for my brother and sister in law.  They are going to have a little girl shortly after my baby is born.  This is where my stumped post title comes in.  I can’t decide what fabric to use!!!  I am trying to make something girly that isn’t too pink.  And I have enough fabric that I should be able to pick something out that isn’t all the same fabric line and isn’t all pink, but is sweet and girly.  But I am stumped.  I don’t know what to use.  I don’t know for sure what sort of patchwork front I want to do.  I am stumped. 

So where does this leave me?  I will tell you.  I am going to take the process pledge.   And my first thing to post about is going to be this baby sleep sack for my brother and sister in law- well, I guess it is actually for my neice. 

The first part of my process is going to happen today.  I am going to look through the fabric that I have and I will take some pictures of some combos that I am thinking of.  I will share those with you soon!

I, Rebecca, pledge to talk more about my processes, even when I can’t quite put them in the in words or be sure I’m being totally clear.   I’m going to put my thinking and my gut feelings out there.  

I am so frustrated!  I have been trying to upload some photos of the things that I have been working on- which is a ton of stuff- and I can’t upload anything!  I have been crafting away, trying to get things done before this baby is born in August and I have been so productive!

I am working on my doll quilt for DQS9, I re-quilted a quilt that the quilting wasn’t great on, did new binding on that and another quilt (I still have to hand sew these, but I am taking them with me to the lake this weekend), I cut fabric for a color wheel quilt that I bought fabric for AGES ago, finished my portion of the blocks for the quilt that my sister and I are making for our mom, finished up a bunch of gifts for a friend and a cousin, made some blocks for bee quilts- that is all I am coming up with right now- but I had pictures to show!

I also was lucky enough to win a giveaway!  I had entered Jaquie’s Spring to Finish challenge this year and I was a winner!  I won fabric that Cheryl of Naptime Quilter was giving away!  I was so excited to win!  She sent 6 fat quarters in greys and yellows.  One of them is yellow birds on a grey background and I just love them! 

Anyway…someday I will be back with photos of stuff.    I just have to get my IT department/husband to take a look at things and figure our what is up.  But right now he is way too busy applying a screen protector to his iPad. 

I am so excited to have gotten a spot in the 9th round of the Doll Quilt Swap!  Yay!  And I believe that I owe my swap partner a little bit of info about my likes and dislikes…so here it is!

Hi Swap Partner! 

First, I want to thank you for taking the time to make something for me that I am sure is going to be awesome.  I can’t wait to see it! 

Second, I know that I have been terrible about really getting my likes and dislikes out there.  I do have some favorites in my flickr photostream, but I never did a mosaic and I don’t have any info in my flickr profile and I don’t even remember what I put on my DQS9 sign up sheet!  So- sorry about that!  I am now sharing this info with you just in case you aren’t sure what to do.  However- if you are already inspired with a fantastic idea- please go with it!  I do not want to deter you from a path that you are excited about!

I find it so hard to narrow down what I like!  There are so many things out there that I wouldn’t think that I would like, but I love!  So, I am going to try.  But just because I don’t say it here, doesn’t mean that I won’t like it.  I can say that I don’t like things that are super busy.  My favorite colors are pink (probably a fuchsia-y pink) and I like purple.  I like aqua and other light blues.  Spring green is great.  I guess I don’t like really dark colors or neon colors.  But I like bright and saturated colors.  I like wonky, I like straight lines, I like appliqued stuff and I like embroidered quilt.  I haven’t really done much of either (well- no embroidery yet) but I would like to get some experience in both at some point!  I like the quilts that are like little pictures, and I like the ones that are more traditional designs (in more modern colors).  I always hear people talking about fabrics that are civil war reproductions- not really sure what these look like, but they don’t sound like ones that I would be into.   

I am also fairly certain that Little Helper (my 2.5 year old daughter) is going to claim this as hers.  And it will be loved by her and her babies, no matter what it looks like!  And if she is happy, I am happy.  (I know- cheesy, but I am a mom!  And that is really how I feel!) 

So…have fun!  And I am so excited to see what you create!!

Oh my goodness!!  I have been making so many things!  Sadly, I can’t show a few of them yet. (I am making some gifts and I am not sure if the recipients are readers or not!)  I have only a couple of things left to make for these gifts, and then hopefully I will get them in the mail next weekend.  In which case, I will be able to show you all of the goodies soon! 

In the mean time…I have some other things to show you.  And to be honest- they are much less interesting!  But I am thrilled- because I am totally caught up on my Bee blocks!!  I have NONE sitting here and waiting for me to sew them!  Yay!!

Log cabin for Sorrel- In Laker’s colors!

Christmas blocks for Frieda…

These Christmas blocks were a process!  I didn’t start them with the intention of them looking like this.  I started with one block that was supposed to be all 4 of the 9 patch sections.  But it felt too busy.  So I made trees.  I really like how they turned out!

And some ticker tape blocks for a Bee Friend. 

I have really been enjoying these small projects.  They come together quickly and I feel like I accomplished a lot this weekend.  However, I am really missing the larger project satisfaction finish that I get with the making of a quilt. 

So…I am making plans for my next quilt.  Little Helper is soon going to be a big sister.  The new baby will get her crib and she will get a new “Big Girl Bed”.  When she gets a new bed, she will (of course!!) need a new quilt for her bed.  My husband and I have been undecided about hat kind of bed she was going to move into, so I couldn’t make a quilt for her.  Well, we finally decided this weekend!  We bought a new KING sized bed for us parents to sleep on!  That means our old full size bed will be Little Helper’s.  (as a side note- I am SO EXCITED to get our new bed- it will be delivered on Thursday!!)

Ok- so I have these Mendocino fabrics that I purchased a while ago and I was thinking that I would use those for her quilt.  Others that I was considering was Far Far Away by Heather Ross, but I don’t have as many of those.  Plus, Little Helper likes pink.  And I have some pink Mendocino, so that will make her happy.  She likes Mermaids too- all good things!  Anyway- I am deciding on a pattern and I have 2 that I am considering.  Anyone want to weigh in with a vote???

Mixtape Quilt

OR

New Wave Quilt?

I am also knitting a blanket for this next baby.  I am really enjoying that! 

And since I am rambling about all sorts of nonsense today…I came across this blog post today-  http://r0ssie.blogspot.com/2010/05/process-pledge.html and the one that she links to on mutant quilting.  I have some other thoughts on this that I will share in a later post.  It is something that I have been thinking about for a while now. 

Have a great week!

I have been busy!!!

Today, during Little Helper’s nap, I thought it was time to try to catch up on Quilt Bee Blocks.  I am officially caught up now!  Well, I have my May ones left to do, but since May is not over yet, I am not behind yet.  Here are my blocks for Becca in A Piece of Work B.  She sent all of us different fabrics and told us to do whatever we wanted- just do not follow a pattern.  One of our fabrics was the focus fabric.  My focus fabric was the hippos. 

I have been sewing colored pencil rolls.  It all started as a going away gift for a friend’s daughter because they were moving to Texas.   The first one I made (no photo) had a plain linen exterior.  My seam allowances on the inside color strip must be a little larger than 1/4 in. because my color strip ended up being too long.  With the first one I made, I (foolishly) trimmed the ends so that it would be the right length.  This made it really difficult to fit the end colored pencils in.  So when it came time to make my other 2, the linen pieces that I had cut were too short.  So I had to dip into my fabric stash to find something else that would work.  And I found frogs! 

Little Helper likes hers.  She chose the one with the pink and orange frogs.  The one with green frogs will be going into the mail to another little girl right around Little Helper’s age. 

The pattern for this is from the book Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts.  I did a couple of things differently than they said.  It said to hand sew in a part and I chose to edge stitch with my machine instead.  I don’t really like hand sewing that much and I am not very good at it.  I think that the edge stitching looks just fine too!

I also finished the 2+2 Blouses that I showed you fabric for a while ago.  I LOVE how they turned out!  I finished them (except for buttons and button holes) last Sunday.  Then, Wednesday night, I finished sewing the buttons on one of them- and Little Helper wore it on Thursday.  I washed it and she found it in the laundry basket this morning and decided that she wanted to wear it again.  I love that she is choosing to wear the things that I make for her. 

Here is the other one that I made:

I gave Little Helper a choice on which one she wanted.  She picked the one that was just faces.  Although, I think that I would have picked the other!  She tells me the other is for someone else.  So…looks like this goes into the gift pile!

I expect to be working on a few more gifts in the coming weeks.  So, lots of little projects.  But that should also mean that I will have lots of pictures to share!

As a side note, I am currently between good cameras.  We decided to upgrade our DSLR camera and we sold our old one yesterday.  We expect our new one to come in the mail tomorrow.  In the mean time, I am stuck with my point and shoot and the quality of photo is really not very good, particularly after looking at my DSLR camera pictures for the last year and a half!

I finally finished the silk dupioni tea party dress that I said that I was making for Little Helper!  Yay!!  Ok- it actually didn’t take me all that long once I started working on it.  I cut it all out a few weeks ago and then I sewed it all in one weekend.  Well, I did the hem and put the buttons on in Mexico after Little Helper went to bed one night. 

(I just took all of my photos today and the dress needs to take a trip to the dry cleaners- it is nice and wrinkly and has a small spot of food on it. )

Let me just say- I LOVE how this turned out.  And so does Little Helper!  I lined the bodice in pink cotton.  I found that sewing with the silk was easier than I expected, but I still had a bit of trouble.  Trying to attach the interfacing was a bit of a problem.  I am not sure that it ever attached properly.  But when I finally had to sew edges and I caught the interfacing, I was sure that it wasn’t going to slip out of place! 

I also found that it puckered a bit more than quilting cotton does.  There is one small pucker on the back where the bodice and the skirt meet- notice I didn’t show a picture of that.    I also had a hard time getting going points on the back bodice part with the button holes. 

I found the buttons at Joann’s- and just LOVED them!  They are just perfect for the dress.  I was so thrilled!!  Little Helper wore silver sandals with the dress and she was so cute in it!  Other than the bride, I am pretty sure that she got the most attention at the wedding. 

And here is the whole family at the wedding.  My husband was in the wedding, so he had to wear the groomsman outfit.  The wedding was down on the beach and just beautiful.  Well- SUPER windy, but very pretty and nice.  During the vows Little Helper decided that she just HAD to have her Daddy, so I sent her up to stand with him and the rest of the groomsman.  She is such a cutie. 

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Another exciting thing that happened- I won a giveaway!!!!  Melissa over at Elemental Stiches hosted a giveaway of four books from Shambhala books and I won one!!  I am particularly excited because she was giving away Carefree Clothes for Girlsand she has also been hosting a sew along with that book.  Now I might be able to participate next month!  Yay!!

Ok, so I still don’t have any of my “coming soon” clothes made, but I am working on them!  I got tired of waiting for my fabric to come in and I bought some other stuff to make a 2+2 blouse with.  And this is what I did this weekend…

It still needs buttons.  Little Helper and I are going to go pick some out on Thursday or Friday.  When I first showed Little helper the fabric, she liked it.  Then, as I was making the shirt Little Helper told me she didn’t like it and she wouldn’t wear it.  Then, after her nap today, I was hanging it on a hanger to take a picture and she said- “That’s mine! I wanna wear it.”  I had to tell her that it still needed buttons and she could wear it once it had buttons.  She was ok with that response.  But at least she likes it!!

Overall, I am really happy with how this shirt turned out.  I think it is so cute and can’t wait to make more!  I know that I made mistakes and I need to remember to read pattern errata BEFORE I start sewing.  And there are certainly things that I can improve on.  This is why I am really happy that I have 2 more to make in the near future.  I think that will really help my sewing skills!

I will be working on the other 2 shirts, but if I haven’t finished them but Thursday, I will be switching my focus to the silk dupioni tea party dress.  I am glad that I warmed up a bit (after such a sewing dry spell- I needed it!) before working on my expensive silk dupioni fabric!! 

Have a great week!

Well, I posted that shirts and a dress were “coming soon” almost a month ago!  I am not sure that it is soon since they aren’t done yet!  I still have had some motivational/energy issues.  But, I made a commitment to myself this weekend to get my rear in gear!  I am tired of looking around online and seeing all the fun/cool stuff people are making while I sit around and do nothing! 

So, I did this…

It is a drunkard’s path block for the Bee Addictedquilting bee.   I was a little intimidated by it, but fortunately, Knitterleigh sent a template.  That helped a lot.  So, it isn’t perfect, but I think that it came together pretty well!  I might even be willing to try it again someday!    I did get MUCH better at the curves by the end!

So, I am hoping to get those shirts done, but I need some accent fabric for it and the stuff that I want is on order at my quilting store.  Hopefully it will come in soon!  In the mean time, I have started working on the dress for Little Helper, and I hope to finish it this weekend- so maybe you will see pictures by the end of the weekend!! 

I also got tired of waiting for my accent fabric, so I might have bought some other fabric to make another shirt for Little Helper!  I need to practice!  I really want to make a raincoat and maybe even a winter coat for Little Helper for next fall/winter.  And I am SO not ready for that yet.  So, I need to get sewing!

I am also trying to pick a blanket to knit for this baby in my belly.  I am deciding between 2.  One is the Circles and Stripes blanket (scroll down- there is a picture in this blog post)  from Susan B. Anderson’s Itty Bitty nursery.  The other is the mitered square blanket from Mason Dixon knitting.  I know that the mitered square one is a much more labor intensive pattern.  so I am a little nervous about that- I am halfway there already and I would REALLY like to have this blanket done by time this baby is born.  But I will not be finding out boy or girl before this baby arrives and I like the mitered square one in a more colorful pattern than I like the Circles and Stripes one.  Oh the decisions…Feel free to weigh in via the comment section!  And I would use different color schemes for either blanket than what is in the pictures!

Ok…I will stop rambling.    I think that I am going to go cut some fabric.  I am home sick today, and I think that I can manage the energy for that!

Oh- one more thing!!  I came across a sew along at another blog- Elemental Stitches this week.  Unfortunately, I don’t have to book (and neither does my library!), so I can’t participate.  But some really cute things are coming out of it!  You should venture over and check it out!

Ok- for real…no more rambling..for today!

I completed another quilt square!  And then I tried to do another one so that I was caught up- and I screwed it up.  I barely got any cutting done and I realized that I had messed up.  I do think that the instructions are not clearly written.  And I am not the only person who had trouble with that.  Anyway…I am currently waiting to hear what she wants me to do with my screwed up fabric.  I am so irritated with myself!!

So here is what I finished…

And what is coming soon…

We are going to a wedding in April.  I wanted to make a dress for Little Helper to wear.  But since it is a wedding, I wanted it to be a little fancier than quilting cotton.  So, I am excited to say, that I went to a different fabric store today and picked up some silk dupioni!  It was not cheap, but the woman who was working there assured me that it would not be that hard to work with. 

The colors aren’t coming out quite right in the photo- my photo quality is pretty terrible for this post.  Sorry about that.  My real camera’s battery is dead. 

I also picked up some fabric for some summer shirts for Little Helper-

I know- those 2 are very similar.  Well…that is ok. 

I am really excited to start on some of these projects, but unfortunately, I will be away from my sewing machine for a few days.   Even worse- away from my Little Helper.