QUILT!

After moving, I realized that I had way more fabric than someone who tends to move a lot should have. In fact, most of it is still sitting in boxes against the wall, as I have less space to spread out my projects now. And I'd been thinking about making a quilt for a while anyways...


So, I found a couple large pieces of fabric that worked together (grasshopper&pink pattern, the green, and the green flannel), then snatched an old pilly blanket from the linen closet at my parents (it was always kind of itchy and a little uncomfortable, and since I upgraded to a full-size bed, I've had ZERO use for it), and an old light green twin sheet for the backing.

I designed an 8-pointed star pattern for the front of the blanket, primarily utilizing the grasshopper pattern and the plain green cotton quilting fabric for the triangles, and using some spare muslin for the star in the center. Due to my faulty measuring (the triangles should have been about another .5" in each direction...) the top piece ended up being a little smaller than I had planned, and so I had to arrange for some extra edging around the outside. I found some green flannel that I had purchased a couple years ago for a project that never materialized, and put it to work!

Then I used cream colored yarn to tie all three layers together at the corners of the triangles, and trimmed all the edges to be about the same, trimming the center piece about .5" more. I turned the edges in around the center piece, and sewed through all thicknesses to create a finished edge.

It was lots of fun! I think it's one of my best-looking quilts yet. I'm still working out some kinks (edging, measuring, pattern complexity), but I think I'm doing alright considering I learned the vast majority of what I know about quilting through reading and doing. However, the name of the game was to get rid of fabric... so I'm looking for a good home for this twin-sized quilt.

Mitts

Fleece mittens! Black 'outside', with green and multicolored frogs on the palms. Copied a pattern off a pair of mittens I bought years ago... the ones I made ended up tighter and warmer though, probably because I didn't add any seam allowance (I wanted them a little tighter). But, I only had to cut out three pieces per mitt, which is always a plus, and the whole process took maybe an hour, hour and a half.

Yeah, the picture is goofy. But I didn't feel like getting out my real camera, and I didn't feel like showing off my messy bedroom.

a pepperoni pizza!

inspired by: http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Accessories/Pins+Keychains/Extra+Pepperoni+Brooch

It will become a brooch! I just have to find my pin backs, so that I can attach one.

Emory Pillowcase

A good friend is currently in the process of getting ready to move to Atlanta for grad school, a pretty daunting venture: new city, new state, new school, new friends, new experience... For obvious reasons I can't follow along, and so I've been working on a going-away gift for her. There are a couple of purchased items that will be included in the final package, but the piece that I put the most time/effort/thought into is this pillowcase that I embroidered the edge of.

She's going into the Public Health program (Rollins School of Public Health) at Emory University, which is a really good school for that, and it was her number one choice, so she's pretty excited about that. She's already got a fleece blanket school swag item that she purchased down there when she visited (post-acceptance), and she's interested in more, so I decided to try embroidering the school logotype onto the edge of a plain white pillowcase.

The pillowcase is an item purchased at a secondhand store, and washed before I began embroidering. I printed out some source material from the internet, since I wanted this to be a straightforward copying of the logo, and then freehanded from there. I did the outline of the crest first, to get some sense for how and where the overall design was going to layout across the edging, and then worked on the insignia within as the final stitches. While not the worst/most intricate coat of arms I've ever seen, it was definitely the most daunting part of this design.

Completed in DMC #791.

Simplicity #2886

I was at JoAnn's a couple weeks ago, and saw this pattern displayed on the mannequin (and I was doing so well! I hadn't picked up anything that wasn't on my list!), and I had to have it, so I went to look for it. I think it was the pockets that really sold me. Luckily the only one left in stock was in my size.

And about two or three days ago now, I woke up really wanting to spend my day making a dress. This pattern was still fresh in my head, so I chose it, and then started thinking about fabric. I definitely wanted something lighter, since it's summer right now, and such is my summer palette, and I had these old curtains lying around from last summer when I came into a large quantity of fabric & notions... It worked out well, since the curtains provided more fabric than I needed, and they were lined, so I didn't have to go out of my way to pick out lining or even separately cut the lining. I also happened to have the right size zipper on hand, and I used it.

I was surprised by the simplicity of the pattern, I had expected it to require more than 7 pattern pieces, but it didn't! The cutting when very quickly! And I actually followed the instructions for once, which was a good idea, since they had me putting the zipper on the side, and cleverly putting together the bodice part (while not particularly any more difficult, I had never done a side zipper before). Even the pleats weren't so bad, not nearly as frustrating as tucks (for the layman/woman: tucks require you to fold, and then individually sew a length of about an inch or two, while pleats only require you to fold, and then sew into the seam, which requires less individual attention). The only thing that is frustrating, is that side zipper. It looks nice, because the back of the neck is pretty high for a sundress, but it sits in my skin weird. Not really 'scratchy', but definitely itchy on occasion.

Dino Plush

The other day I was sketching out some simple ideas for things that I could embroider, birds mostly, and I ended up outlining this sortof T.Rex shape. After some consideration, I decided that it would probably make a pretty simple and relatively easy stuffed animal. The main body is stuffed, the eyes are sewn on using my machine, and the yellow spikes are not stuffed, they're just placed into the seam in the back. This project was fun! The hardest part was trying to get the spikes on the back placed in just right so they would stick up straight, especially around the curve. I wasn't perfect, you can see a little twisting where it got stretched into the tail curve, but overall, I think the idea still translates.

Placemats

I was thinking about foods that stain the other day, and how they can ruin your table/ counter/ dress/ pants.. and I was thinking about making a set of placemats. So, I got this idea to make a set where each placemat was dedicated to a different stain. Each mat holds a business card sized marker in the lower left corner, naming the source of the stain, as well as some foods that stain-creator is currently found with, as well as an embroidered image of the food. The color of the placemat is also the same color of the stain, ie, coffee is brown, blueberries are blue, etc. There are four flavors all together, a blueberry, coffee, mustard, and a pasta sauce.

Napkins, potholders

My friend Andrew moved to LA a while ago, and his girlfriend Staci recently moved in with him. To celebrate their moving in, my friend Emmelia and I embroidered two sets of napkins for them. Her initials set is the one with the yellow thread, and mine is the one with full names written out in blue (apparently, I'm not content with simple initials; I also think I just wanted to embroider more, without regard to how that would affect the design...). After we finished our embroidery, I hemmed the edges with matching pink thread, so they wouldn't fray, and then got to work on the second half of my gift.

Andrew's really into tie-dye, and Emmelia warned me that if I made anything in a plain color, he'd be liable to tie-dye it, so I figured I'd head him off on that one. I found a tie-dyed knit shirt at a thrift store, cut it open, and applied heat-fusible interfacing onto the wrong side to keep the knit from stretching as I sewed. I also crocheted 2 circles from some thicker yarn I had lying around to use as the center of the potholders. As a sort of last minute whim, I added the braided loops, though they're probably the biggest thing I would want to go back and change on this project. I stitched the crocheted pieces into place on one side of the potholders, and then closed them up around the edge, flipped them right side out, and closed the flipping hole, inserting the loop at this time. If I had to go back: I'd change the loop, and I'd hand stitch the hole closed. But, really, I just wanted to know how well this method would work out. I might make more of these in the future, and on those occasions I will be more particular about the details.

Birdie Pillowcases

2 pillowcases, both white, with matching little birdies on them, one pinkish, one tealish. These guys were kinda fun! I think I still need to add some little patches of grass below them (there is more room on the case hem below than above their sweet little heads), but other than that, this is pretty much what they will look like when finished.

Available at Hoard Antiques, 4710 N. Damen Ave, Chicago, IL

Some stitching

Getting into embroidery lately. This is my current project, it's a lil border on a small tablecloth, I'm just doing the outlining now, as I haven't completely decided how much detail I want to get into yet.

No Updates

First it was my computer, and now my camera has about had it. This makes it significantly harder to update, and even though I'm not slowing down on making things, probably there won't be new posts until after I get my tax rebate. :)

Things I've been working on recently, that I can't show pictures of:

Two days ago I made two paired bunny rabbits for a friend's birthday, they were very marshmallow shaped, and about 18" tall. Both made out of fleece, one was white with a light blue side gusset, and a cute smiley face, the other was purple with a dark blue gusset, and a killer bunny face.

I have also been working on a quilt, the first I've ever made following any sort of instructions (2 books: Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel for square patterns, and First Time Quilting for general tips on assembling the thing). It turned out alright, I think I had intuitively already kind of gotten myself on the right track for what I needed to do and where I needed to go, but it was interesting making up the squares and seeing what the book told me to do vs. what I would have done on my own. This project was worked on in conjunction with a couple friends, with some minimal tutoring, they were able to work my sewing machine and cut the fabric (the rotary cutter makes this very easy), allowing me time to plan out and supervise, and complete the parts that involved a little more know-how. It was a fun experience though, working with friends, as I usually complete a project start to finish all on my own!