Made in Cherry Quilt-A-Long

I told myself nooooooooo I have too many unfinished projects and unstarted projects and just plain ideas floating around my brain.


But I couldn't resist.  I joined the quilt-a-long being hosted over at Pins and Bobbins. But I am starting with a scrappy mini version. All my squares have been cut to 1.5 inches, and my small half square triangles are also done. I won't be cutting the background pieces until I have my points and main block all done.

And now my iron has decided to stop working. It's warm, but not hot, and there's no steam. And, of course, it is Sunday. So my repair shop is closed. Wanna bet the iron decides to heat up tomorrow? Maybe it needs a day off.

I like butter

Especially slathered on a toasted piece of homemade whole grain bread. With a bowl of from-scratch cream of celery soup. No picture can capture the deliciousness.

*(in the speedy-announcer-at-end-of-ad voice) Bread made with 10-grain cereal mix because that's what was in the pantry. The cornmeal is not noticeable. The soup was made without the celery root (I know it adds a depth of deliciousness, but there wasn't one in the CSA box with my fabulous bunch of leafy wonderfulness known as celery, and I didn't have time to traipse around town searching for an overpriced celery root). I also left out the potato because kid #2 is allergic. He refused to eat more than 2 bites, so next time it goes in. I also put in celery seed and plain kosher salt, because I don't own celery salt. In spite of all this, both were still wonderfully delicious.

Fixing a Sweater

Don't you hate it when you buy a cotton sweater, and you like said sweater, but over time, you realize the sweater (being 100% cotton) is shrinking. Not enough to make it too small, but enough to cause a horrid zipper ripple because the zipper fabric is not 100% cotton? And trust me, it looks even worse when I am wearing it. Which basically means I don't ever wear it.

So, last week I ripped out the zipper. Note to self: ripping a zipper out of knit fabric is not easy, and takes awhile. Then I tossed it in the wash, and, yeah!, the placket area came out in a nice, normal, flat shape.

And then it sat on my ironing board. I was not going to attempt to add buttons (and holes). I thought a nice piece of ribbon would solve my problems just fine. This is a lightweight summer sweater, and only a tank top fits under it.

Enter my first whimseybox!

Which contained grosgrain ribbon! First I was leaning toward the mid-width orange. But...orange? I generally wear this sweater with white or pink. The wide pink ribbon would certainly lend it a look—but not really my look. So I settled on the narrow pink.

And there you have it. A drop of Fraycheck and I am good to go. Once summer is here and I can actually wear this, I may shorten the ties. And if the cats chew them, they will also be shortened.

Emmeline Apron completed—take 1

I made my first Emmeline Apron this week—yes, I love aprons. I cook a lot, and tend to get covered in everything. Full aprons are best for dinner, half aprons work great for breadmaking. In any case, I know I will be making more versions of this. Probably as gifts, and for myself as well. This one is super cute, and I love love love the double thickness. Maybe I will even get brave enough to make taquitos from scratch, frying them up on the stove. Maybe. I would like to think two layers will protect me!

The fabric are Joel Dewberry prints, the solid is Kona (cerise? bright pink?). Please ignore the mess on the floor—it's laundry day.

 I made one big change on this round--rather than make a tie at the neck, I made it closed, so it just drops over my head and hangs on my apron hook. I am not a fan of tie necks. But when I make this as a gift, I will make a tie neck so it will fit. I only needed 36" of binding, rather than two yards, though I had made the entire two yards.

Future changes (for me):

• Make bodice 1" deeper, and make the top 1.5" narrower to eliminate the gape. (I am 5'8", and more coverage is good.)
• Not face the top band—or maybe face just one side? The facing makes this unnecessarily bulky, even with the seams trimmed. And I am not convinced it is needed at all.
• Measure and cut the rectangles quilting-style, rather than using the pattern pieces. That way they will be actual rectangles LOL.
• Buy only 1 1/4 yards of the contrast fabric, rather than 1 3/4 as listed on the pattern. Yes, I have 20" untouched full-width inches of bright pink Kona left over (and yes, I made the whole 2 yards of binding). Look!

Now I am feeling motivated to cook!

Resolved to Sew 2012

Over at Very Berry Handmade, there is a new giveaway! Resolved to Sew 2012. It's funny, because I have been thinking about this myself. I put aside some other things (and haven't started a few things!) to get that baby quilt done.

 As of right now, I know of no cousins due in 2012, so I should get some other sewing done.

• Finish the space quilt. I finished the top right before starting that baby quilt, and I have the backing fabric. I need to get a batt and get quilting. And make plans for the quilting. I purchased this fabric about 10 years ago, before I knew thing 1 would be a fan of garbage and other trucks, not space. And thing 2 is not a space kid either. But they both love wrapping themselves up in something cozy.
• Finish the house wallhanging. It's pieced, it's embroidered, it might even be partly quilted. Find it, finish it.
• Make the simple minky-backed quilt kit I bought at the Long Beach quilt show. Before the next LBQS.
• Sew an article of clothing for me. And I don't mean another apron, though I'll do some of those too. I love aprons. What can you expect from a slob who loves to cook?
• Do something with those scraps! Maybe a mini quilt for the school silent auction? Can I do that quickly?
• Make a duvet cover from bright busy prints, if I can find them on sale--or win them in a giveaway, wink wink.
• Just sew. Mend. Turn boys' pants with ripped knees into shorts. Repurpose things as they come up.
• Get my poor machine serviced, before it starts doing funny things.

 The Amy Butler collection in this giveaway is calling to me! Fingers crossed

yup, i went shopping

Since I was only 2 blocks from my new favorite fabric store (Sew Modern), I obviously had to stop in.

I haven't finished the apron that I bought supplies for last week. But it is in progress. Sooooo that counts, right?

 Set 1: from Riley Blake's Christmas Candy. I love these--and they were 40% off. Which meant I was forced (forced, I tell you!) to get a yard of each. There were a couple other prints that were too cutesy creepy for me, due to the presence of gingerbread men. But I just love the way there is pink in this line. Pink makes me happy.

Set 2: The 4 right fabrics are from Outfoxed! by Lizzie House. I hadn't seen them before, but I love them. The lavender on the left is from another Lizzie House line. I got a half yard of each.

What am I going to do with these? They asked me at the store too. I have no idea. I want to say quilts, but maybe I should branch out a bit?

Finished!

It's really truly finished. Finally. And will make it to the recipient before she is one (ahem...).

At the end of May I had this:

And now, finally, I have this:

And with the backing:

Yes, I work slowly. I will spare you all the list of other stuff I did during that time period ;)

The pattern is Shake Rattle and Roll designed by Jacquie Gering, from  the Spring 2011 issue of Stitch magazine.

The block directions were great, but I am still shocked at the amount of waste this pattern created. So much sewing only to cut off fabric. I've never done any kind of wonky block before, so maybe that's normal? I found it frustrating. It took forever to make any progress!

The supply list calls for "1/4 yard each of 6 to 8 [fabrics]." I had 6--and ran out of fabric for all of the small blocks on the side. I had originally bought binding to match the light solid (and I usually wait until the quilt is done to chose binding), so made rectangles with that to use in place of the small blocks I couldn't make.

And then I got new binding fabric! It all worked out in the end, as I like the dark brown a lot. It frames it up quite nicely, especially given the excess of pale green!

Now I get to wrap it up and mail it away! That is the best part.

Seeing Progress

I am getting excited. The end of the baby quilt is in sight.

This elation will, inevitably, be followed by the realization that this is slowpoke me, and it will be awhile just yet. Hopefully I will get a bunch more done before that hits. I have a few things I can't wait to start!

errr...it's January?!

Yes, it's been months. Where does the time go?

I have been crafting--a baby quilt is in progress. Some Star Wars snowflakes were made. An R2D2 beanie was crocheted. One Angry Bird ornament was completed, another is in progress. And some clay ornaments for gifting were done. Kids seem to figure into every one of these items, lol.

But for me--I signed up for Whimseybox! Check it out. I am just. so. excited.