Wednesday, July 25, 2012

WIP Wednesday #14: Moving on, Moving up

Thanks to a marathon sewing session this weekend, I actually have progress to report this week! Well and a little bit from last week that didn't really merit its own post.

Quilted! - Trick or Treat
Performance anxiety be darned, I dragged this out and got 'er done last weekend. New additions included a skull, the moon, "Trick/Treat" along the sides, and candy in the corners. 



I missed out on using the Damask pattern, but there's always next time for that. You can see the full design here.

Completed - Block for Quilt Con
It's not as if I didn't have enough to do on my own projects, but when my local Modern Quilt guild said they wanted to put together a quilt for QuiltCon, madness overcame me and I volunteered to do a block. I'd been wanting to try an asterisk block for a while, and of course I couldn't help but tinker with it. Here's the result:


Technically this is due August 11, but I wanted to get it done early lest I make a mistake.

Done in a Day! - Roller Shade for Door
Ok, so it was a long day but Sunday I got brave enough to bust out this kit (which I'd ordered online) and construct a shade for our back door. I ran out to Hancock's for the fabric a little after noon, and by 7PM this puppy was completed on my sewing machine waiting to be hung by my husband. 



Total cost of shade was $40 for kit + $25 in fabric so while the it still remains to be seen if the thing actually works, we're both crossing our fingers; if it does, we got a roller shade in a fabric we liked way more than all the commercial options, and at 1/3 the price. Stay tuned to see how this turns out.

Basted - Alien Invasion
Pics of this when I actually start quilting, but if there is a way for a 7-month pregnant woman to baste with dignity, I would like to see it. I fell over FAR too many times trying to get this done.

No Progress:

Piecing
-Christmas Traditions (but the good news is, Applique is already starting to not sound so bad again)

Repair/Troubleshooting
-Ready, Set, Snow

And, for proper linkage:

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Finish All the Projects

Hyperbole and a Half has a comic about the rush of deciding that today, nothing else will slip through the cracks, and then the subsequent meltdown that happens when it turns out being 100% on top of 100% of things 100% of the time is more than any one person can do. I feel like I may be heading that direction, with the latest developments in my nesting instinct.

I think it's finally dawned on me that in the very near future, I will be a working mom with a very very small infant. And then a less small infant. And then a toddler. I feel like this is bound to cut into my sewing time. Cross that with the fact that I am trying to downsize my stash from one closet to half a closet, and you have a recipe for Most. Pressing. Projects. Ever.


See this? 2 days ago this was "a slightly ruffled stash in need of organization," but now it is a litany of all the projects that have sat too long undone, staring me in the face and whispering in my ear: "Don't you want to finish me before the baby comes? Don't you want me FOR the baby? Don't you want to piece me and quilt me and bind me and give me away to charity BEFORE all your free time is spent chasing after the baby?" ... Of course I do! Part of me knows having a kid won't be the end of my quilting, but another feels like I'm already starting out behind because of Star Wars and because not feeling well has been cutting into my sewing for months now.

I want to buy new fabric for my baby and not feel guilty about it! I want to make her crib skirts without tripping over my backlog of batting! I want my sewing stuff and my dance stuff to fit neatly into one closet, but that calls for some serious stash reduction. So my stash and I will probably be squaring off for the next little while. Here goes nothing!

Potentially: stay tuned for subsequent breakdown.


Wednesday, July 11, 2012

WIP Wednesday #13: Baby Frenzy

My life these days mostly consists of birthing classes, nursery prep, and going to bed by 9:30, but a newfound nesting instinct for getting my projects done has led to me getting some sewing time in! Here's what I've been up to as of late:

Pieced - Alien Invasion
Inspired by the Turning Corners pattern from the Moda Bake Shop (Have I mentioned how yummy their new book looks?) this quilt converts a single Jelly Roll of Amy Bradley prints into an ~40x50 baby quilt. I liked the idea of using contrast to create a secondary pattern in a quilt, and thought this would be great "little boy" fabric for my upcoming nephew.



I knew pretty early on my favorite secondary pattern was easily the diamonds,  so that's what I set out to make: unfortunately, what I didn't count on was needing the same "handedness" for all of my blocks, counter to the instructions. Fortunately, I caught my mistake early on (thank goodness for the "proof of concept" stage I always go through once a couple of my blocks are made) and was able to churn out enough similar blocks to complete the quilt - the extras will probably go into a charity quilt some day. Anyways, here is a preview of the top, which took about 2 weeks to make:



Next step is basting and quilting, but first I've got to get my NEXT project out of the way.

FMQ - Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat is chugging along, about 1/3 of the way quilted. I'm quite pleased with the results of the stencils, and am starting to think about the rest of the quilt. I really want to capture the fun Damask pattern the line uses somewhere, but I am not yet sure how to go about it.



Also, I think there might finally be some performance anxiety creeping in, since this is the first (and possibly only pre-birth) quilt I will make for my own daughter.

Finished! - Eclectic Garden
Finally, a mere 8 months after it came home from my Pro Quilter of Extreme Awesomeness, I have finished this: my first ever quilt that was made by me, specifically for me. And it's a good summer weight!

I see now how those WIP piles grow for other quilters, though: it's hard to juggle "fun stuff for me" with "fun stuff for others who have a gift-giving deadline." And I do have to say, the fabric from this collection (Eclectic Garden by Jason Yenter, for In the Beginning Fabrics) was really, REALLY great to bind with. The hand feel was excellent and I spent a lot of time just petting it. if you want to see the final product look here, and for the history of this quilt, look here.

No Progress:

Piecing
-Christmas Traditions (but the good news is, Applique is already starting to not sound so bad again)

Repair/Troubleshooting
-Ready, Set, Snow

And, for proper linkage:

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Eclectic Garden Complete!

It's finally finished and ready for use! Eclectic Garden is the first quilt made by me, specifically FOR me, so I am very excited to finally cuddle under it. It's a great summer weight, and I am happy with how it turned out.


Also, I'm very grateful that the OKCMQG lets us work on projects during guild meetings, because that is when I finished it :-) This quilt is made from Jason Yenter's Eclectic Garden line from In the Beginning Fabrics, and I must say I need to look at more of the line, because the handfeel and workability of this fabric was awesome. I'm almost sad to be done with it.

If you want to read about the process, you can see the original posts here and here.