The Making of a Goldfish Quilt...

After about a week without sewing a single stitch, I finally finished adding the top and bottom blue pieces, and cut the middle blue pieces for my stripes. Once I get those sewn together I'll add the outer most blue pieces and then add the solid white stripes to the mix. I was pretty unsure about how this was all going to come together, but I think now that I can more accurately visualize the stripes as a whole I actually really like it.

I think for the back I'm going to keep it pretty simple... I'd say 90% solid white with one single stripe of blue (with a little square of goldfish).

The binding is a total mystery.

This quilt has also been reminding me of that old zebra rainbow stripe gum. I don't think they even make it anymore, but that stuff was really good. Now I want zebra gum....

Additional Stash Additions...

This is what happens when I go to Miami and JoAnn's Fabrics is having a sale...

Stash Additions

My new Munki Munki fabric (and hedgehog...).

Goldfish I have Loved

Its a terrible photo but here is a general idea of the goldfish quilt I just started. I'm going into this without any real sort of plan, other than using blues and browns as my color scheme. So far I like where its going, and almost wish I wasn't leaving town this weekend so I can work on it more!:)

Bento Squares

I finished sewing each of the squares and have now put them aside to focus on other quilts (and to let my eyes rest from the insanity of this one). I still need to add the border strip around each block, and then decide if I'm going to use any sashing. But as of right now I don't expect to come back to this project for at least another 2 weeks. I need to let it fester before moving on to the next steps.

In other news, I think I found an owner.

Charmed

These are my new charm packs (technically one charm pack and one jelly roll). While they don't look like much now, I'm pretty excited about them! Just knowing that each one is going to become a quilt makes me want to pull them apart and start playing with all the pieces. Soon though... soon.

Bento Box - works progress administration

I finally cut my squares into fours, and spent a lot longer than expected laying it all out. Apparently its not nearly as easy as it looks to mix up quilt squares... its actually quite exhausting (which is why I'm now replenishing my strength with ice cream).

Here's the progress thus far:

In other news, these are my awesome new fabric scissors!!! They were part of my Christmas present from Adam's family, and I've definitely put them to good use with this quilt!

And this is why Adam and I get along so well... he plays video games and I sew, and its like hanging out while each doing our own thing:)

The Stitches in the Technicolor Dreamcoat

Guttermann thread is so pretty in and of itself that I decided it needed its own home to proudly display its bright beauty (can I get another adjective please??). The only problem with putting it on display though is that I now feel like I don't have enough. And thus the cycle of shopping continues...

A torrid love affair

Kitties love quilts...

but sometimes that love is just too much to bare.

Bento Box Quilt Cunundrum

I'm at a critical juncture with the bento box quilt (two roads diverged in a wood)... The original plan was to just make the 12 blocks and then cut each one into fours and rearrange them. Now I've started thinking to cut the blocks the way they are now and rearrange them, and then add the one extra layer around the edge so the outer most strip is all the same and the inner strips are all jumbled. Although whichever way I choose to do this quilt I'll more than likely try the other way soon after, so I guess it really doesn't matter.

wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off...

Purple People Eater

New favorite food: purple potatoes!!!! Why? Because they make pretty purple mashed potatoes!!!! They also taste a little sweeter than boring old Yucan potatoes, and in my book sweeter is always better!!:)

More food should come in fun, unusual colors!!!!!!

This is the start of a beautiful friendship... I mean quilt.

I decided my next quilt should be done in the "bento box" style. Basically I'm making 12 quilt blocks, each of which I will cut into fours and rearrange to make 12 new, mixed up blocks. In theory they will all be sewn together with no white fabric separating them (I forgot what the techinical term for this is), so in the end it will be one big mixed up mush of a quilt. And I know that sounds awful, but from what I've seen it actually is really interesting and fun. It's a pretty time consuming process though so I might work on two quilts at the same time just so I can feel more like I'm getting somewhere.

Here is the initial layout, with the large block centers and some with the first strip in the block (there will eventually be four or five layers to each block...)

1 Recruit for the Felt Army

Today I received my needle felting kit (one of my most anticipated Christmas presents this year... thanks mom!!). While I completely skipped over the instructions that came with the kit, I did manage to create one of the animals from my new, super cute felting book. And although it might be hard to discern that it is in fact a rabbit (I had a little trouble with the sizing, but this was all for the sake of learning) I am pretty proud that you can at least tell its some sort of animal.

Its definitely going to take a lot of practice to master this new craft, as its by far harder then I thought it would be, but its also really fun (even if a little painful at times.... they aren't lying when they say the needles are sharp). I'm really excited to start making little felted friends, and even more excited to turn them into a felted army!!!

Evolution of a Tetris Quilt

In my attempt to be more productive in the sewing department this year, I started and finished the top layer of this Tetris quilt over the weekend. I'll probably put it aside for a while at this point (I have no idea what to use it for anyway), at least until I find the fabric I want to use for the back and the binding. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this much done though, especially considering how sick I've been. I also am pretty surprised how easy and fun this style of quilting is!!

THE EVOLUTION

Laying out the patterned blocks:

Adding the off-white squares to the mix:

Finished layout:

Sewing each strip:

Sewing the strips together:

Finished top layer (before trimming the edges):

Starting the new year off right...

Happy 2010!!

I decided to start this year off clean and organized, and considering I've been really sick for the last few days, I've had plenty of time to sit and rearrange fabric, books and shelves. So here is my improved sewing/craft room. I think with it being much more streamlined I'll actually be able to get things started and finished in a timely manner. And since I added a new craft to my already long list of "likes, wants, etc" I really needed to make a little extra space (The new craft is needle felting, by the way).

I also decided that this year I'm not making any resolutions, only goals... like to do more sewing/crafting. Just general things I want to focus on this year. Nothing like "exercise every day" or "stop eating candy" or any other resolution I know from the past 30 years I'll never actually do beyond January 5th.

So cheers to a new year, and all the experiences it will bring.

(I finally finished the UM quilt squares... now to just finish the quilt!!)

Woops.... FAIL me.

I was trying to be so secretive about my Heather Ross VW van quilt that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. So here are the only two that I have....

The first picture if just my basic over all layout. The second is the finished squares, the strips for the top, bottom and back, and a more "decided" layout. If you have a decent imagination just fill in the blanks with white Kona cotton fabric (hard, I know). The binding is also a blue fabric, so no stretch of the imagination there either.

The real struggle came with trying to layer all the pieces. For some reason my sewing machine was rebelling against me (jealousy I'm sure), so when I tried to stipple the quilt I ended up with a bunch of birds nests and had to painstakingly take out all the stitches. Adam was actually a HUGE help with this too, and it kinda became our project while watching TV in the evenings.

Once I got the stippling stitches out I decided to try using the ribbon technique. Basically I threaded yellow embroidery ribbon through the quilt, and then tied each piece in the back. It's a technique I'd been wanting to try anyway, and I was pleased with the result... it makes the quilt much more "old fashioned" and let's it breath a little easier.

The second major struggle was when I took it to Miami and washed it (to try to even out the holes from the stippling attempt, and to get the cat hair off since Emma liked to lay on it despite my protests). When I removed it from the washing machine more than a few stitches had come out, and I had to rush to figure out a solution to the fraying. I ended up just using my mom's old sewing machine (which was a whole other set of problems) and rejoined the fabric with a zigzag stitch. Fortunately because I used white as my background color it wasn't all that noticeable.

All in all I had much higher hopes for this quilt than the end product provided. I did learn a lot in the process though, and I guess that's half the battle. My mom was also very excited about it (maybe a little too excited), but I guess mom's are happy with just about anything you make for them. I appreciated it though:)

Snow Day 2009

NYC received its Christmas present from nature last weekend in the form of a 1 foot accumulated snowfall, and I probably sat by the window watching at least the first 6 inches fall while screaming out updates every 5 minutes!!

Even though I've seen snow enough times to have experienced every level of it (watching it fall, tasting it, playing in the new piles of powder, building things from it, hurling it at other people, sliding around in and on it, etc) I still get 7 year old level of excited every single time!!!!! Honestly, its what makes winter worth it (well, that and scarves and ice skating and soup...). And while Adam was quickly over it all, I at least had Malcolm to act somewhat as amazed by the cold stuff falling from the sky as I was (at least as much as a cat can be amazed by snow).

I didn't get to build any snowmen (too powdery) nor did I get to go sledding (no hill) but I did get to jump around in it for a while:) And it makes me very excited that we're supposed to get more snow this week, on New Years nonetheless, and is part of the reason the 4 degree temperature outside today isn't as bad as it could be!!...

JoAnn Fabrics FAIL

Santa's Sweet Shop = Sweat Shop!

So I decided to alternate between sewing and baking this weekend, as part of my attempt to finish my Christmas presents before Christmas. Turns out that's more of a prison work camp assignment than a fun thing to do, but in the end I accomplished what I set out to (or at least came close enough). I tried the cake in a jar project I've been wanting to attempt for a while, and honestly it was a lot harder than the directions let on. I managed to over fill almost every jar, and then managed to drop almost everything I touched on the floor.... it was not a very happy, easy work environment to say the least. But in the end I think things worked out okay. And I was able to bring in the tasty treats to work today, so check those gifts off the list.

Now to just finish my shopping, sewing, packing and cleaning in less than 24 hours.

Filling the jars:

Baked spillage:

Looking better with sugar on top:

The finished product is much prettier:

Holiday Macaroons:

My excellent "leftover's soup":

Time Well Spent

I'm falling behind in my Christmas present making schedule, but for good reason... I've been busy making Christmas decorations to help get me in the holiday spirit, which I'm positive will motivate me to burn through all the present making projects I have lined up!!

Last night I made two banners: one that says "Noel" and another that says "Joy". I had completely forgotten about the Christmas fabric I bought almost a year ago from Crate & Barrel, and upon rediscovering it I decided it needed to be put to use right away. And since I've been wanting some sort of banner type thing to drape over the couch and TV in the living room, that's exactly what I made.

I also got my first Christmas tree yesterday, and while its only about 2 feet tall, its made me immensely happy:) I started to put a few decorations on it (the only ones I had) and this weekend I plan on getting a string of lights and some new ornaments to complete the tree! And perhaps most surprising is that the cats don't like it! Malcolm tried to take a few bites but quickly found out how much that hurts (it's a very sharp tree... even I got a few painful pokes). And I draped some red holiday fabric around the bottom to cover up the planter (its a live tree, not a cut one, and I'm hoping I can keep it alive for many years of holiday happiness) so hopefully that will deter any dirt digging.

All in all I think my Christmas decorating is really coming together, for the first time ever, and I'm really excited about it:)!!!

PS. Please excuse the horrible iphone pictures I took this morning... the decorations really look much better than they're represented here!!!