Easter!

Easter is this weekend.  Easter.  It feels like we were just "Ho-ho-ho"-ing along.

Oh.  Did I tell you?  Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and the like are no longer a mystery at my house.  Punk came right out a few weeks ago and asked me if they were real.  Since she's getting older, I didn't fib.  I told her the truth but also said they all live in our hearts.  She was also told not to spoil the fun for her younger cousins.  She was just concerned if she would get an Easter basket now that she knows the truth.  LOL.

I made these cute tiny pouches for the little girls in my family.  Free tutorial/pattern too.  Bonus!

Aren't they cute?  I need to make one for myself.  Very easy to make. You should try one.

Bunny pillow!

This one is on my bed.  I may keep it out all year.

I made an Easter "basket" for my cousin's daughter but forgot to take a picture.  I will show you soon.


Happy Easter!

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Woven Star

I wonder if anyone is even going to read this blog post since it's been forever since I've posted.  Eh. I'll post it anyway.  Maybe I'll get 2 comments.  LOL!

In between all other projects that I've been working on, I snuck in one that I wanted to try out.  It's called the Woven Star by Stitch Supply Co.   I didn't plan on doing anything with this little tutorial right now because I don't have the time and it took a bunch of 2.5" squares that I didn't have time to cut and prep.  The more I stared at it, the more I figured I can strip piece where I could.  So I tried and this is what I came up with.

I used my (little) Happy Go Lucky stash.  Cute, huh?  I'm going to make this one into a pillow cover.  The aqua and white borders are solid strips where I could do that instead of 2.5" squares.  I made notes for myself and I'm thinking I could make a small wallhanging for myself.

Now that I played with this very easy block style, I want to make a Labyrinth quilt for my bed.

I would change the center star to be like the one in the Woven Star block. I like that style better.  So I think I'm going to order the Labyrinth pattern and pray I can shop in my stash to make it.  I want it for my bed.  Looks pretty intricate but sooooo easy!

enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Hearts

I have said before that I am not a big holiday decorator. Christmas - there is a tree and now that I know how to sew, I've made a couple of table runners and a wallhanging or two.  Other holidays?  Not so much.  While I love seeing how others decorate for the seasons and holidays, I just don't do it.  I don't have the room for all the stuff.  And my house is cluttered with little girl toys.  Decorating around her stuff just doesn't look right.  LOL.

However, when I see cute, I need to make.  

Candy hearts.  Adorable.  I want to make 20 blocks for a lap quilt.  For now, 3 blocks will do for a wall hanging.  If I get my act together, I will make this a leader/ender project.  But I need to get some squares organized and by my machine.  I also want to beef up my low volume stash a bit.  Some of the low volume squares I used aren't very "low volume".

Close up of the hearts.  The green one stands out great.  The other two get a little lost but they are there.

On Instagram, lots of people were making some simple hearts and turns out it was a free tutorial out on Cluck Cluck Sew's blog.  I have been hoarding many charm packs and wouldn't you know?  I had a few Valentine ones.  I busted them out (stash busting 2015) and made my own.  I made 25 blocks instead of 20 as in the tutorial.

I forgot the name of the charm pack I used.  It had green in it which I didn't use.  

I have lots of hearts to decorate with for next year!

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

Sewing for my Valentine

I did a little sewing for my little Valentine.  My big Valentine will be getting chocolates and some new socks.  Pretty romantic, huh?  LOL!!

I ordered the cutest throw pillow kit from Emily Ann's Kloset etsy shop.  The iron-on is just too adorable.

I sewed the turning hole after taking this picture.  :)

Lori Holt had shown on her blog a while ago, some cute glass jars with fancy glass knobs and it's been on my mind to make some.  I made a few for the house and of course, my little Valentine needed one for herself in her favorite color.  I filled it with her favorite chocolates - Dove Dark and some Hershey Kisses.  The kitty's name is Caramel.  She was napping on my bed when I disturbed her with my photo shoot.

Here are the jars I made for myself.  I plan on using them on the dessert/candy buffet at my in-laws 50th Wedding Anniversary party happening later this summer.  For now they are hanging out in my kitchen.  I plan on using them long term in my sewing room.

I stopped at Hobby Lobby last week and spotted super cute Valentine fabric and bought some yardage for pillowcases.  I love them and want a set for myself.

I have been trying to keep up with things.  I pulled out a few WIPs/UFOs and working on getting things done.  Need to snap a few pictures.  And I've been working on some swap items for a few new swaps I've joined.

Enjoy your day!
Jen  :)

Headbands!

Punk is a hair chewer.  It's a bad habit that we are trying to break.  She only does it when she is nervous or concentrating.  We've tried pulling her hair back but she doesn't like pony tails for very long.  Her hair is too fine for barrettes. It's a struggle, I tell ya.

At Christmas, my aunt gave Punk a very pretty outfit and with the outfit, she gave her a 6 pack of elastic headbands.  I didn't think Amelia would even use them but I put them in her bathroom anyway just to see.

Amelia discovered them and she's been wearing a headband almost everyday now. Keeps her hair away from her face (and mouth) and she is putting a strong effort into breaking the hair chewing habit.

I did some Pinterest surfing and found a bunch of tutorials on fabric headbands and I made one to see how she would like it.  Let's just say I have a list of colors she wants.  ;)

I also made her some elastic ribbon ones.  By the time I'm done, Amelia will have a rainbow of headbands to choose from.  What was cute was that one afternoon, we were getting ready to go out and Amelia put on a pink and black top.  She so sweetly asked if I had time to "whip up" a matching headband.  LOL.

I'm just happy she likes them and wears them.  She looks so much older with her hair pulled back.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Hello Friends!

I have been a bad blogger, haven't I?  Using Instagram is just so much easier but I don't want to give up on blogging.  I enjoy reading what everybody's been up to and I have been keeping busy.

I made it a personal goal to work out of my stash more this year.  I've hoarded a lot of fabric and projects over the last few years.  It's time to get things done.

This is one of those of those projects.  Mixing it Up by Lori Holt (bee in my bonnet fame).  I love Lori's patterns!  At first, I truly thought they were overly written.  At quick glance of course.  They are wonderfully written!  Some info is a bit overkill but the way Lori has the cutting instructions done - Perfect!

I bought my solids for this pattern mid year last year and I put them aside.  I had too much going on and I forced myself to wait until 2015 started.  Once 2015 hit, I pulled this baby out and started cutting and piecing.

As you can see, my version is a little different.  I made my sashing thinner and I didn't do the outer "beater block" border.  I needed this quilt smaller because I'm going to hang it in my dining area once quilted and my curtain rod is only so long.  AND I don't care for pieced block borders and I'll tell you why.  I am NOT a precise piecer.  As much as I try, I alway miss the mark but my overall look at the end - I am happy with.  With that, my quilt tops are usually different sized than what the pattern states.  Doing a pieced block border frustrates me because of that so I skip them when I can.

There.  My quilters confession.  :)

I have been working on other stash projects and I have more to show you.  Soon.  Maybe even tomorrow.  :)

Enjoy your day!  It's snowing (again!) over here!
Jen

Town Square Quilt - first finish for 2015

I love Lori Holt's books and patterns.  Her patterns are so well written, you can piece a block just from the pictures she provides.  I'm currently working on one of her patterns now and will show you soon but here's one that is ready for quilting.  It's from her "Quilty Fun" book and it's called "Town Square".  I started it mid last year and put it aside for Christmas sewing.  I had a lot of the blocks done so I made a point to get it finished for the end of 2014 and I got it finished on January 3rd, 2015.  Not bad.

I made a change to the quilt top and didn't do the star outer border.  I did a scrappy border.  Fits me just fine.

I need to get backing for this and get it quilted ASAP.  I want to change the quilt on the wall in my bedroom and this is it.

I'm also working on getting squares cut for a border for the Christmas quilt that Lori designed and hosted a sew along on Instagram.  I need to dig in my stash a bit for some fabrics to add to the border for that one.  Once I have that border done, I will show you.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Geez.  I have been MIA, haven't I?  I'm sorry about that.

Merry Christmas!  Happy 2015!  I trust everybody had a nice holiday?  I did.  12 days off from work.  Relaxing, sewing, and hanging with my Punk.  Today was rough, getting back into our morning routine.  Give us a week, we'll get it down pat again.

I had to look back to see where I've stopped with my updates.  Ah.  Swaps.  Okay, let me show you what I gave (and received!) in the couple of swaps I participated in over in Instagram-land.  AND I joined another one that starts at the end of this month for Spring.  Can't wait for my partner assignment. I already have a few ideas brewing.

Okay, here is the mini that I made for my partner.  She liked purple and rainbows.  I've been wanting to try this block style and tried to figure out how to do it in a rainbow fashion but it would not work.  So I stuck with purple and green.

I did my best with the quilting.  I did some straight line and echo quilting in places.  Here are the extra goodies I included.  I made her a rainbow Dresden mug rug, thread catcher and a few other odds and ends.  It was well received.

I received this:

I happened to be paired with the swap organizer.  Or should say, he was paired with me.  My partner made his and I made for my partner.  It was a triangle swap.  LOL.  This was his own design and foundation pieced.  It's all dotty goodness and I love it. I watched his progress on IG during our creative time and never thought it was coming to live with me. I also got a bar of genuine Cadbury chocolate from the UK but I've been nibbling on it.  :)

Ellyn and I did our own personal swap.  I was whining that I was seeing all the swaps happening over in IG-land but was always late to the party to sign up; I was itching for swap.  It's been some time since I was part of one.  She took pity on me and we did a personal swap, just the two of us.  LOL!

This is what I created for Ellyn:

Mini version of the Moda "Love" layer cake quilt.  I love it and I bought the layer cake in "Horizon" for myself to make. I even shamelessly copied Kate Spain's layout of fabrics.  That's how much I loved what she did. I will make my version as soon as I bulk up on my white solid. I ran out right before Christmas.

Since this was a mini-mini, I added another mini for Ellyn:

She can use it as an overgrown mug rug or hang it on her wall. I think she hung it.  Thread catcher, matching half Dresden pin cushion and other odds and ends.

Ellyn made me and I love it!:

Hand quilted too!  Isn't it fab?!  Someone need to teach me.  I want to learn so that I can be cool and creative and hand quilt a mini or two.  I was sent extra goodies but I can't find the picture I took!  And she blogged about our swap too!  I've been very lax in my blog reading.  I will get back on it in the evenings again.

I have more to talk about but I will save it for another post.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)