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

Learning my ABCs

Hello!  I know it.  It's been a while.  My summer "theme".  Our summer has been moving steadily ahead.  In fact, it's almost over!

In 3 days, we're headed here:

Going to party it up.  Celebrating Punk's 9th birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary.  This year she will be turning 9 AT Disney World.  She is soooo excited for that.  The day after we get back, my 4th grader heads back to school.  She's excited to start 4th grade and I'm happy she is excited.

I have been doing some sewing.  I started and finishd my ABCs in 2 weeks.

Moda did a blog hop back in February and all their fabric designers (and others) created the letters and Moda offered the letter patterns for free.  I followed along and downloaded all of them.  I have since found out that Moda took down their links to the free letters because they put all the letters into one PDF file and some online shops are selling the PDF for $8.00.  I'm not sure how I feel about that practice.  A bit shady to me.  But I have them all printed out and saved so I'm good.

I do love this quilt.  I was hoping to hang it on my bedroom wall but it's too wide for the rod hanging there already.  I hate to use it because while I love the black background and how it makes all the colors pop but the lint and cat hair it collects.... UGH.  I have lint brushed this thing numerous times while sewing it.

I got another quilt done and off my bannister.  Morning Joe is on my bedroom wall and I just love it!

Not sure what I"m going to work on now.  I have been creating some appliqued owls for a quilt but they take forever.  I work on them when the need strikes.  I think what I'm going to do it work on getting fabrics cut for the free pattern that the Fat Quarter Shop launched a few days ago, Fat Quarter Fizz.  Quick and easy and again, using up that stash!

Enjoy your day!!
Jen  :)

Little Things

Tomorrow is the big day!  Solo painting party.  Who wants to come and help?  My sewing room is all cleared out (somewhat).  My Koala sewing cabinet and the rack that holds all my fabric bins are staying in the room.  Everything else?  Out.  My bedroom is loaded up.  Punk's room is holding some stuff.  The hallway is crammed with everything else.  I'm excited to get started.  My goal is get out of bed before 8am and get started.  We shall see.  I may be up way before 8 am but I'm a bed lounger.  I love to get up at 6am, turn on the TV and just channel surf for hours.  It's a bad habit.  My focal fabric for my new window valance is here.  Just waiting on my accent fabric to show up and I hope to get that sewn up this weekend.  Few seams shouldn't take me that long.

I will snap some pictures before I get started with the re-painting.

I finished up a few small projects before I tore into my room.

A personalized pillow for a birthday gift.  Did things a little different with this one.  I used the capital letter set and a colored solid instead of my usual white. Brown and pink is the color scheme in the baby's room so I thought this would be a good match.  I was right.

A little cupcake mug rug.  Just messing around with this one.  In one of my older quilting magazines there is a wallhanging with 3 cupcakes just bigger.  I took the idea from that.  Now that I've made this mini, I'm going to make the wall hanging.  Either for my dining room or my new sewing room.

I gifted this one but I will make myself one. It's just too cute not to have one around.

Scrap purging has been happening around here and I have put some aside to giveaway.  Stay tuned for that if you are interested in some scraps.  They aren't mini scraps either.  Some pretty big pieces.  I just don't want them anymore.  I plan on also purging my patterns so that will be a second giveaway just for fun.

For those here in the US - enjoy the Memorial Day weekend!  You know what I'll be doing.  :)

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Who remembers this little ditty from Sesame Street?

One of my favorites.  Amelia wasn't a big Sesame Street fan.  I just didn't like the new-ness of it so I never turned her on to it.  I loved the version I grew up on; she wasn't an Elmo fan at all.

Every time I look at my newest project finish, People in your Neighborhood skit from Sesame Street runs through my head.

Dwell from Camille's book "Simple Retro".  Happy to actually make something out of the many quilt books I have collected.

I had intended to make only a small wall hanging size but I enjoyed the house construction so much, I kept going and made all 16 blocks.  The top is finished as the pattern was written but I'm going to add a wider outer border.

I used a mix of Bonnie & Camille fabrics in this one: Ruby, Vintage Modern, Marmalade, Happy Go Lucky, and Scrumptious.  I have decided that Scrumptious is my favorite.  The colors make me smile.  There's a citrus-y undertone to them to make them nice and bright.  Right up my alley.  I'm hoarding the rest of my Scrumptious stash for right now.  The white flowered house in the upper left corner of the quilt is going to be the wider border.

I was on a major sewing kick but that has slowed down some.  I'm working on a Schnibbles and it's coming along but I'm getting bored with the process.  I have a wall hanging I need to quilt.  Once I get that done, I will post it.  I hope to get it quilted this weekend.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Bitten by the Schnibbles Bug

I have been working away in my sewing room these last couple of weeks.  My sewing mojo that left me earlier this summer has found its way back to me.  Must be the cooler temps we've been having.  Summer is over here in New England.  Leaves are falling off the trees and our pool has been drained and put away, ready for next year.  However, the weatherman is telling me that 90 degrees temps are coming back for the middle of this week.  Whatever.  No wonder Punk caught her first cold of the season and is chilling at home today.  Poor thing said she didn't sleep well and just felt lousy this morning.

Okay - back to my sewing.  The last week of August, I decided I needed to sew something.  I had no clue what.  The memory quilt that I'm working on for my Grandmother is on hold until I get more pictures from extended family members.  I went digging.  Digging in my stash and came up with lots of treasures.  Found fabric I thought I used up or lost.  Found border fabrics I thought I never had (and ended up ordering 2 additional yards that I have no use for now).  And some charm packs with a few patterns attached.

I got to work.

First up - Full House made with Reunion charms by Sweetwater.  I hope to get some backing and binding fabrics soon so that I can get this one quilted and on my dining room wall for the Fall/Winter.  I gave each house coordinating roofs and doors.

McGuffey is next and it's made from Lucy's Crab Shack charms; also by Sweetwater.  I have backing and binding for this already.  I had intended to make the "Plan C" Schnibbles with it but I was in no mood to deal with HSTs.  I just wanted something quick and simple.

This is for my wall for next Summer to match my LCS table runner that I've already completed.  I have decided that these piano key borders are not for me.  Even though my top measured correctly without it and my piano key borders measured fine, they were still too big and I had to remove a piece from each and on either end of my border, my fabric is a bit cut off.

In my stash digging, I found several quilt kits that I've been hoarding.  Enough was enough and I busted one out. Working on getting the blocks done for that one.  Once it's in a filmsy form, I'll show ya!  Lots of multi-tasking going on over here.  OH!  And I'm working on a new tote bag for myself too.  :)  As well as bindings at night if my hands aren't bothering me.

I hope to be back soon to show you some more fabric fun!

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Birthday Gift

It's me again and so soon.  Are you surprised?!

In between working on the blocks for the memory quilt for my Grandmother, I've been working on a birthday gift for a friend of mine.  I take a weekly ceramics class and August is a busy month for birthdays there.  My teacher, my good friend and her mom - all August birthdays.  And our class is small.  Only 5 students.  We do one big August celebration.  No need to have cake 3x in one month.

My teacher has a round table and has been asking for placemats to fit her table correctly.  I bought this book by Gudrun Erla for another project (the super tote on the cover - I haven't made it yet) and in the book? Curved placemats!

I bought some Fig Tree fabric and some coordinating ones and got to work.

The fabric right in the middle is what I used for the backing.  Quilting as you go is a wonderful concept.  These were quick to sew up.  Just need to take a pressing to them, box them up and wrap.  Good to go.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Memories

It's been on my mind for quite some time to create a memory quilt for my Babci (Grandmother) and if I was on the ball, I would have done it for her 90th birthday celebration last July.  I wasn't but I am now.  I've been collecting pictures from back in the day; when my Daddy was a little boy in Poland and such to pictures from the stylish 60s, 70s and early 80s.  ;)  Current pictures as well.  I would like wedding photos of everybody. Myself, Brother, Cousin, Aunt, Father and Grandparents.  My grandparents don't have a "true" wedding photo.  My Aunt tells me there is a composite photo of them somewhere in my Babci's house.  She needs to find it.

I had intended to make a wall-hanging sized quilt for her but I think we're going into lap/twin sized quilt.  I have 16 blocks done so far.  Since the pictures all range in size and I really didn't want to fight to resize the larger photos, I decided to follow the Sweet Pea pattern by Anka's Treasures.  The pattern works well with the different sized pictures.  The larger ones don't have an inner border around them but the end result will all be the same size.  Depending on the size of the quilt, I may or may not put an outer border around the entire thing.

Want to see a close-up of our memories?

Me (age 2) and my cousin (age 5)

One of my favorites in the upper left.  Me (baby) with my cousin and Grandfather

My Daddy and my Aunt.  Not sue how old he is here.  My brother at that age could be his twin

My brother (age 3)

My brother and SIL on their wedding day in the upper right

My Grandparents

I need more pictures.  There is one picture of my grandparents that I want to put in this quilt but I can't find it.  It's in a frame in her house but she tends to move things around and nobody can find it.  On top of that, nobody knows what picture I'm talking about.  In my mind's eye I see it.  She's wearing a red dress or coat and standing with my grandfather.  Sigh.  I need to find it.  I want it for myself.  I would LIKE to keep the quilt to the 30 blocks in the pattern but I've earmarked 26 pictures of my own (!) so I'm thinking it will be growing.  2 blocks need to be re-done.  I screwed up somewhere and they aren't wide enough.  I am happy with the progress.  

I'm using this product for the photos and it's working really well.  Prints out beautifully on my printer.  I just wish it wasn't so expensive.  Thank goodness for Joann coupons!  I'm buying the 10 pack and I need my 3rd package of 10.  The 25 pack is $50.00 at Joann's.  

My goal is to give her this quilt for Christmas.  I'm waiting for more pictures from various family members.  I put a deadline on my request for earlier this month but due to some very unexpected family issues - I'm giving everybody a break.  It's not like I've asked for pictures at least 3 other times earlier this year (I hope my sarcasm is coming over in that statement).

All other projects have been pushed aside so that I can work on this.  It's been going together quick but it's a process with the photo transfer/printing.  When I purchased the fabric for this gift, I bought 3 yards and I'm thinking I will need more.  I HOPE the shop where I bought it still has it!  Unfortunately, the shop is an hour away from my house and I don't see myself getting out that way in the next few weeks. 

That's what I've been up to.  Hanging out in the past and enjoy the fashions we wore.  LOL!!

Enjoy your day!

Jen :)

Let me catch you up

Well hello there!  No excuses on my blogging absence.  I just didn't have much to say.

Let me catch you up on the last 6+ weeks or so.

Amelia graduated college and she's off to Super Hero school.  Just kidding.  She successfully passed 2nd grade and on her way to being a 3rd grader and a "book buddy" to a kindergartner.  She's looking forward to that.

Last day of school

Ellyn made Amelia the dress that she wore for her last day of school... 2 years ago!  It finally fit her.  She's a petite little thing.  I wish I had her metabolism.

Her teacher loved the apples wallhanging.  I had Amelia write the label.  She added the last sentence all on her own; "Thank you for this wonderful year".  She really liked her teacher this year.

I had some quilting done by Jill again.  Wonderful job, as usual.  Here are 2 of the pieces I had done.  I finally got my pinwheel quilt (quilt in my header) quilted but I haven't had a chance to trim it up.  I will show you that one soon.  The Valentine heart wallhanging - Carol made one earlier this year and I really like it so I made one myself.  The Lucy's Crab Shack table runner... I pieced it last summer.  Nothing like procrastination at it finest getting it quilted.

Lastly, I made a couple of pillowcases.  Next week, Punk and I are flying the friendly skies to Texas for a mini vacation.  We're off to go spend some time with my BFF and her family.  We haven't seen each other in 3 years.  We email/Facebook pretty much every day so we keep in touch but there's nothing like face to face.  We are all super excited about the trip.  The pillowcases are for her girls.

That's it.  Not much.  Trying to keep cool in this mega heat we've been hit with.  Spending lots of time in the AC and pool.  My sewing room doesn't have AC so it's a bit warm in there.  Probably why I've been staying away from my sewing projects.  I have a few things in the works that I would like to get motivated to finish.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Darling Quilts

I have made it my goal for 2013 to clean off my banister of all my quilt tops.  They make a nice decoration; hanging up there but enough is enough.  One of these days, I will take a picture of how I store my quilt tops.  They are "in my face" every day.

Since my goal is to get them off the banister and into usable form, I sent my first 3 that were ready (meaning I had backing for them but just too lazy to assemble said backing) to Jill.  She did her quilty magic and I got them back this week.  They are wonderful!

I sent 2 lap quilts and a table runner.  I machined on the binding for the table runner last night so I could use it ASAP.  Love it.

Here are the 2 lap quilts.  One for me and one for Amelia.

Amelia's

Mine

The next that will be leaving are my pinwheel quilt and a Christmas gift for my in-laws.  I'm on a roll!

Thank you Jill!  You did a fantastic job and I can't wait to use them once I get the bindings on.

Enjoy your day!
Jen  :)