UM Quilt updates

I've officially started the blocking on the UM quilt for my brother.

So far I like the way its coming out, and I think it will really look nice once I get the "balancing strips" added to each block (ie. the bottom right square will have a thinner green strip on the outside, and the upper left square will have a thicker green strip...).

I'm also really liking the colors on this quilt (and not just because I bleed orange and green myself)!!! Working with such bright colors on such a large scale (think the entire quilt) is something I haven't done before, and I have to say it makes everything much more cheerful:)

Now to just get this sucker finished in less than three weeks... I'm already horribly behind on my Christmas schedule.

A tote for quilts

Whew, I finished my second tote.

Sadly its not as good as the first one I made (although I'm not exactly sure how I lost skills...), but its good enough for holding a quilt which is more or less what it was intended to do!!

This also makes one entire Christmas present that can now be wrapped and placed under the tree. As soon as I get a tree...

bad days mean good sewing...

It seems that the worse my day is the more productive I am with sewing... I guess in the same way that I love to clean when I'm mad because I get out all my frustration on the dirt, the repetitive nature of sewing stops all the thinking. If that makes sense. And while sucky days suck, I'll definitely take the productiveness!!

Tonight I managed to finish the last of the HR squares and bind the KND quilt (thus making it 100% completely done now... and let me just say that using decorative machine stitches make binding not only easier, but also looks as if I almost know what I'm doing!!).

And at the end of the day its all relative.

Handy Dandy Grocery Bag (or other type of bag depending on your personal preferences)...

I made a tote bag!! After I spent a few hours trying to decipher the tutorial (picture fail) and then cutting out the pieces (sometimes twice, I'll admit), it was pretty fast going. Of course it still took me about 3-4 hours, but now that I know what I'm doing I feel confident I could make another one in an hour (or at least in under two hours).

The sewing itself is pretty minimal, and I love that the bag is reversible (half the time to sew??)! I had originally wanted to make the bag fold up and sew a little pouch for it to go in, but I decided to add a stabilizer in the base so folding isn't really an option anymore. I might make another one just to try the fold-and-store approach (I have some fun ideas for the pouch, based on a design I saw at SF MoMA).

And hooray, one whole item to mark off my CPA!!!! I've officially finished something:)

Time Management

I have no idea how it got to be November 2009. I'm still writing 2007 on everything! Not to mention the part where this officially makes me 30, which officially makes me too "old" to use my age as an excuse for anything. Although I've decided that by the time I turn 33 I'll be comfortable with being 30, so I guess its not too bad.... I still have three years to "be" 30.

But I digress.

The point of all this is that Christmas is a month away and I haven't finished a single thing. I've started a few things... but finished nothing. SO - I'm reverting back to my high school days of serious scheduling and devising a Christmas Plan of Action:

CPA:
November 17-20: finish HR quilt blocks; cut binding strips for KND quilt, cut quilt strips for RY quilt.
November 21-22: sew front and back of HR quilt; bind KND quilt; start stippling on HR quilt
November 23-24: sew RY quilt blocks
November 25-28: Kentucky for Turkey
November 29: finish stippling HR quilt, piece RY quilt
November 30-December 3: layer & start stippling RY quilt
December 4-7: Basel Miami
December 8-18: FT quilt binding!!!!! Also, side projects

Side Projects:
2x Market bag, holder
1x PH
2x knitted WC?
4x Co
Tasty Food Products

Yes. This is going to be great.

The things we do for family...

So this is the quilt I'm making for my brother, Ryan. I'm 99% sure this is the layout I'm going to use, with the green of the back layer wrapping around the front side to make the binding.
I wanted to make him something to take with him when he moves to California in January so that he'll have a little piece of home all the way on the other side of the country.
The only real debate left is how to sew the layers together... its between using the stippling technique (example below), or using diagonal lines (which I think might be more of a "guys" look). I guess it really comes down to time since I essentially have less than a month to start and finish this.

little bows make a big difference

Enough said.

Kitties love Quilts

Malcolm has officially appropriated my scrap test quilt as his own... he sleeps curled up in it all the time, and if you try to take it back he gives you the "what do you think you're doing, I could kill you in your sleep" stare down. He also sometimes thinks he's a people (please refer to adjacent picture). I think I may have to make a special one for him because I really want my couch quilt back!!

No Soup for You!

I know it's another food post but seriously, I'm pretty proud of this soup!! Its yellow split pea, which is one of my favorites, and it actually came out really well. So well in fact that Adam, who hates pea soup, honestly enjoyed it!

A dress for Luna

I'm not 100% finished with this dress (I want to add a bow around the top, for that little something extra), but I still think it came out very cute for a little play dress! And while this dress has become so easy to make at this point that I can bust one out in about an hour, I think I may step it up a notch for the next dress and try my hand at my new Oliver & S pattern.

I love the fabric used with this dress though, very light (which is perfect for Miami weather) and very girlie and bright! I may have to find some more like it...