just a quick hello

I just wanted to pop in and say hello and let you know that I am still sewing when I can, but haven’t been able to blog as much as I’d like. That said, I have six (!) pages of handwritten notes for my next installment of the Confessions of a Fabric Stasher series so I hope to post “part three” really soon.  In the meantime, I thought I would share these zipper pouches I made as end-of-the-year teacher gifts.  I sewed them without following a tutorial and I didn’t run into any glitches, so I feel like I can confidently state that I have conquered the zipper–or this application of it, anyway. Be back soon!

nursery school pillow project

These two pillows are the end result of a fun little project I organized with my son’s nursery school class.  It was a really nice way to get involved in the classroom and share my favorite craft with a bunch of adorable small people.   I was very fortunate that a friend who handles all the administrative aspects of the school offered her assistance on some very key steps.  Here is a quick summary of the project:

-I prepped enough half square triangles (HSTs) to cover two over-sized pillows from the classroom reading nook. I started with 4.5″ squares of fabric.  For the smaller HST’s, I used this brilliant method.  For the larger HST’s, I just layered two squares on top of each other, cut them once on the diagonal to create the triangles, and sewed the triangles together.

-My friend used a permanent marker to draw two grids directly on two pieces of lightweight fusible interfacing.  The grids were drawn on the “sticky” side of the interfacing.

-I went into the classroom and read the class a book about a quilt.  I really wanted to read them this one, but for several practical reasons related to this particular age group, I went with this one.

-After reading the book, I placed one grid on the floor and had the kids sit around it in a circle. I placed the HSTs in a bowl and instructed the kids to a) choose one, b) place it on a small square within the grid and then c) pass the bowl to the next person.  We continued like this until the grid filled up.  {You could speed up the process by using two bowls of HSTs or by asking the children to choose four HSTs at a time.   I did this after a while because the exercise did end up taking longer than I thought it would.}

-Once both grids were filled completely, the kids were finished designing their patchwork and went out to play.  My friend and I fused the fabric squares onto the interfacing using an iron.

-My friend took both grids home and used this method to sew the patchwork together. She did a beautiful job and saved me a ton of time.  I was so, so lucky.

-I  took the two pieces of patchwork and followed this really simple tutorial to insert a zipper and assemble the pillow covers.

That’s all!

A few things to note:

-I used solid fabric from my stash. I decided against using prints because I wanted the patterns of the geometric shapes to shine.  I was inspired by this post on the  Summersville blog.  I loved what she said about how she ended up loving some of the color combos that she had initially considered less attractive. I really didn’t like some of the individual half square triangle combinations I had put together. But as a whole, I love the effect.

-It was interesting to watch the kids make patterns.  At first they were just chosing colors they liked, but later they realized they could make different shapes if they were careful about how they placed their fabric squares.

-Originally, I thought I was going to use only the smaller sized HSTs to cover both pillows.  But then reality set in when I realized how long it was taking me to prepare the project.  That said, I am glad I got a little lazy because I like seeing the two pillows, side by side, in different scales.

-This project could also work as wall art.  It might also be a good concept to adopt if you were designing a quilt to raise money at a school auction.  The only trick is that you couldn’t use interfacing and you would probably want to use larger HSTs.  You would have to take a picture of the design that the kids came up with, and then carefully pick up the squares in the correct order so that you could sew them together fairly easily. But wouldn’t it be neat to have a full quilt that was designed by your child and his/her classmates that has such a fresh and modern look?

-I never could have designed these two beautiful pieces of artwork myself.  I just don’t have the confidence that my mind would allow me to be so completely and wonderfully random.  If you want to achieve a look like this, get a bunch of five year olds to do the design work for you!

On behalf of the nursery school, I am entering these pillows into the Festival of Half Square Triangles at Canoe Ridge Creations.  I realize that sewing HSTs together randomly is not exactly a novel idea, but I do think that the concept of the project is a good model for mom’s who sew and want to get involved in the classroom.  If this project is awarded a prize, I bet the nursery school will put their winnings to good use!

There are a ton of other really great creative projects using HSTs that you can view here.

hop!

I almost never post photos of the kids anymore, but I couldn’t resist this one.  {My mom made my daughter’s adorable dress.  You can’t see it here, but the fabric has the greatest simple geometric print.}  The Easter Bunny who visits our house every year was so much fun.  Hop hop hop!

Happy Easter!!

confessions of a fabric stasher: part two

In my last post, I promised to share with you information regarding my fabric stashing habits of the past.  {P.S. This post will make more sense if you read the post that precedes it.} Here you have it–the good, the bad and the ugly:

-I truly enjoy shopping for fabric, and when I didn’t have a lot of free time to craft, shopping was the quickest and easiest part of the “making” process. When I didn’t have time to make things, I could hop online and acquire pretty supplies.  It’s quick. It’s easy. I would get my fix. And I would get a lot of fun mail!

-I justified my shopping habits.  It would go something like this:  “Fabric shopping is my only consumer vice.  I hardly ever shop for things like clothes, shoes and make-up.” Or “ I make lots of gifts, so I am SAVING money.” {HA!} I could go on and on with examples. I am an expert in talking myself into things.

-My stashing habits were not very conscientious.  I wasn’t giving much thought to what type of fabric I already had.  I was clueless as to whether or not I was low on warm colors or that I owned an absurd amount of blues and greens.  I threw everything into a closet with no regard for organization and that was that!

-I used to get caught up in sales and/or free shipping offers. I would buy fabric, not necessarily because I loved it, but because it was a good deal. I would buy more fabric than I needed in order to justify paying for shipping.  Or I would buy more fabric than I wanted to buy in order to meet the minimum for free shipping.

-In a similar vein, I would occasionally get burnt by online shopping.  I would buy things that looked great on my computer monitor, and yet were just.plain.ugly. in person.  That’s the risk you take with online shopping, especially when you are dealing with something as tactile as fabric.  You really don’t know whether you are going to love something until you see it in person.

-I used to buy cuts of fabric that were too large for the type of sewing I do.  I would often buy one-yard cuts of fabric because, if I wanted to use it to make clothing for my daughter, I wanted to have enough on hand.  But the reality is that for someone like me, who likes to have a very wide array of fabric represented in most projects {quilts especially}, the largest cut of fabric I should ever buy is a quarter yard.  I shouldn’t “stash” fabric for an imaginary dress I think I might make someday.  I should buy that fabric when I know I am going to do that project.

-I would get worried when I was getting low on a print that I love and want to buy more before it disappeared.  This problem is generated by the lightening quick pace of the fabric market.  New lines are released and then disappear before you can blink an eye.  Some weird sense of urgency is created.  It can make some people feel pressured to shop for fabric just because, if they don’t buy it RIGHT NOW, it will be gone.

So, what have I missed?  I am sure there are other things I have done that I am forgetting to mention.  If you are susceptible to any {bad} habits that have not been mentioned in the above list,  please chime in if you feel inclined.   I think it could be informative to update the content of this post with ideas from other people.

In my next post, I will write about the various things I have done to try to break these habits.  Again, I really want to stress that I am not perfect and I haven’t stopped buying fabric all together.   The last thing I want to do is sound preachy! What I have done is become better aware of the type of crafter I am, and the ways it makes sense for me, personally, to acquire materials.

confessions of a fabric stasher: part one

At the start of the New Year, I created a mosaic that showcased almost all of the things I sewed in 2011.  I was going to post it here but since most of those items have been featured on this blog, I decided it would be redundant. If you are interested, it can be found here. One thing that did strike me, when I looked at all of the things I sewed, is that I was particularly good about using fabric that I had on-hand.

At the beginning of 2011, I resolved to try to stop buying more fabric.  I realistically don’t have a ton of free time to sew. I am part of a family with two young children and I have a full-time job that has absolutely nothing to do with my hobby.  And yet, I own a healthy amount of fabric.  And by “healthy” I mean that I have at least eight times as much as I could possibly use in a year. At least.

That said, I’m not apologetic about having a sizable stash.  I have enough materials to allow me to start almost any project without needing to go to the store– which is great when you don’t have a lot of free time to sew. Another positive aspect of having a mini stockpile is that I am able to create things that are more my style.  I love scrappy patchwork–I don’t tend to make thing from a single line of fabric.  I am able to express myself more freely because I have more options.  I really can’t imagine buying fabric project-by-project.  So, in that regard, I defend the notion of having a stash!

In early 2011, I organized all of my fabric and displayed it in a visible area of our home.  This was the act that forced me to realize that I had hit a saturation point.  Having it all right there in plain view, it was undeniable that I already had in my possession more than enough variety of prints and colors, and really couldn’t justify buying any more. It was time to reflect on my shopping habits and change my ways.

I thought it might be helpful to share my experience and thoughts on this topic because I know that I am not alone in this little conundrum.  We are crafters!  We see so much potential in raw materials! We get excited for the challenge they present! We love to anticipate the beauty they will inspire!  All of this is normal.  Healthy. Good.  But if you start to feel overwhelmed with regard to the amount that you have, it is probably time to examine your behavior, try to understand the reasoning behind your actions, and decide whether or not you need to switch things up.

In my quest to slow down my fabric purchasing, I learned a few things about my habits, in general, as well as some tricks that have helped to keep the consumer in me at bay. Believe me, I am not perfect.  I’ve made good progress, but I still have my moments of weakness. The purpose of this first post was to introduce the topic.  My next post will explore the {bad} habits I’ve identified throughout the course of this exercise.  The following post will explore things I’ve done–with mixed results– to help improve my situation.  And perhaps I will do a wrap up after that? I hope that sounds alright. And I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

little islands quilt

I didn’t plan to make this quilt.  It emerged out of a pile of scraps and it was a ton of fun to sew up!

After making these herringbone blocks, I was left with a bunch of triangular scraps that sewed up nicely into rectangles. I matched them up with a bright blue solid and got to work assembling the top.  My process was very improvisational.  I knew that I wanted the scrappy rectangles to show as just little bursts of color here and there. I randomly tore large rectangles of blue solid fabric and sewed them around the scrappy bits.  I really didn’t think much about the final layout and I certainly didn’t bother worrying that the colorful rectangles were evenly distributed throughout.  I just had fun sewing and tearing, and sewing and tearing, until I had made nine large rectangular blocks that fit together like a puzzle.  I ran out of one of the blue solids at some point, so I just grabbed the next closest color I had and kept going. When I ran out of that fabric, I added the aqua dot as well. Sometimes having restrictions can force you to do things you wouldn’t have thought of if you had it all planned out from the beginning. That’s a big part of the fun for me. I was really pleased with the results. And perhaps most importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I didn’t have anything in particular in mind when I was making this, but looking back, I have to say that I was probably inspired by this quilt, this quilt, these blocks and this book.

I wanted to do loopy quilting but I still haven’t taken the time to learn how to free motion quilt.  Instead, I settled on a basic grid design.  I actually like the look of straight lines more than the loopy quilting.  But still.  It would be really nice to have more options. I get bored running the quilt straight through my machine over and over again.  I started off just using the guide on my walking foot to create the grid, but my lines were veering off course as I went and I didn’t like how it was turning out.  I remembered that I have a Hera marker and used that to draw a grid.  That helped a ton–what a great tool! I used an aqua thread on top and an off-white color in the bobbin. In the end, I am really glad I went with the plain old grid because I love how it looks on the back.

Since the quilt top is extremely loud and bright, I wanted to back to be super simple. The backing fabric is the reverse side of a super ugly printed solid blue color that reminded me of “mom jeans.”  I really did not like the color of the “right side” of the fabric, but it was the only piece of solid fabric I had on hand that was big enough for the back of this quilt.  The “wrong side” is a wonderful light slate gray, so I just used that instead. I bound it with a Carolina Chambray.  The quilt washed and dried up so nicely–it had the perfect amount of crinkle.  {I love that out-of-the-dryer crinkle so much.  I think it is what motivates me to finish my quilt projects.}

I shipped this birthday gift off to my sister who lives in Hawaii. She is a dedicated community leader who runs a grassroots organization called the Hawaii Island Sustainability Organization.  More importantly, she is one of the kindest, most generous people I know.  She is beautiful, inside and out, and is a wonderful mom.  She is an amazing sister and such a good friend–and sometimes it drives me crazy that she lives so far away!  She called me the day that she opened the package. She told me that her almost-four-year-old daughter took both the baby quilt that I made her and this new quilt and wrapped herself up in them as soon as they got home from the post office.  That description provided such a nice visual image for me.  Gosh I miss them so much.

random thoughts and miscellany

I can’t put my finger on exactly why I don’t post as frequently as I would like to my blog. I know that a good part of it is that it takes time to compose and I can be really choosy about what I write. I also hem and haw quite a bit about content.  My least favorite posts I’ve written show a few photos and say “look what I made” without really providing any real information. I like to try to make more of a contribution than that. {I’m not apologizing for my sporadic posting habits.  This is my blog. No one pays me to keep up with it.  I’m good with that!}

Sometimes list are just easier, so I’m going to quickly jot down some thoughts:

-I made a quilt recently and will be showing it off here soon. I am so excited about this one! {I know. I say that every time.}

-I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my fabric shopping habits, how they relate to my crafting habits, and things I’m trying to do to control my personal consumerism.  I have a very long post drafted about this topic, but I’m not ready to publish it yet.  Its still an unorganized mix of thoughts and patterns I’ve observed. I think that when I do, it will have to be covered in at least two posts.  Apparently I have A LOT to say about it.

-I’ve also wanted to post about my feelings toward virtual quilting bees.  I was hesitant about jointing a bee at the beginning of the year but now my attitude about them has done a one-eighty. I’m loving it and I feel compelled to explain why.

-This new type of virtual quilting bee fascinates me.  I don’t know that I’d be game for something like it because I would be wary of having to quilt someone else’s quilt top. But seriously.  How great would it be to have a completed quilt sent back to you at the end of the project?

-Little reminders about the genuine need for people to create have been emanating from the House on Hill Road blog and flickr stream. This is such an important message for creative types.  Making things is not superfluous.  It’s not impulsive.  For some people, creating is a necessity.  In order to be happy, it’s important to be cognizant of your needs.

-The new book in which Jen of Painted Fish Studios has been published looks awesome.  I am totally in love with some of the items she has posted in her shop recently as well. Quilt inspiration abounds!

-We welcomed two cats into our family a week ago.  I never thought I’d say that but I am really glad it has happened.  {I grew up with dogs so I’m not accustomed to life with cats.} Our kids are absolutely smitten and I am being won over at a quicker pace than I expected. They are a lot of fun.

brrr! winner

The random number generator chose #32 Katy to be the winner of the the Brrr! fat quarter pack.  Congrats Katy!  You are going to love it.  I will send you an email soon.

I managed to sneak a little bit of Brrr! into some of these quilt blocks I made for a new virtual quilting bee I joined recently.  I’ve resisted joining a bee for at least four years, but I made the leap and it is turning out to be so much fun.  By coincidence, Katy is a member of this bee, although the blocks pictured were made for another member of our six-quilter group.

brrr! bags + giveaway

JUST A QUICK NOTE:  THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Just before Christmas I received the most beautiful pile of gorgeous fabric from talented fabric designer Laurie Wisbrun.  I spent a lot of the holiday break thinking about what I wanted to create with it and this vision of a pile of box bags would not leave my head.

Since my daughter’s birthday is in January, I felt like her party was the perfect excuse to make the bags, so I did.  To say that these goodie bags went over well at her party is an understatement.  The kids liked them, but I could tell the Mom’s were plotting ways to keep them for themselves.  {Well, I guess I can really only speak for myself here, but I have definitely been downplaying their appeal with my kids.} This fabric, you guys!  It’s fantastic.  How perfect is the scale of the two polar bear prints for this sort of thing!?!!  They are just too sweet.  This is a very early sneak peek–Brrr! will be available in June.  There are more photos of this wonderful line of fabric on Laurie’s blog. I am so grateful to Laurie for sending me these beautiful prints.  I had so much fun making these!

My process for sewing these involved a mash-up of several free online tutorials I have used in the past.  I considered sharing my full process in more detail, but I am questioning whether there is a need for yet another box bag tutorial.  This one sums it up really nicely and other tutorials I have learned from before  include this one, this one, and this one. I will leave you with a few project notes at the end of this post.  These jottings are basic and I am really just posting them here so that I don’t lose track of them. If you’ve never tried to make a box bag, these will probably sound like gibberish, and that is OK!

On to the fun part!  Who would like to win a fat quarter pack of this adorable line of fabric? Just say hello via a comment on this post and I will choose a random winner on February 1.  I will ship internationally.

Project notes:

-The finished bags measure 7″ x 4.5″ x 3″ (L x W x H).  I start with a rectangle that measures 11.25″ x 16.5″ and use a .5″ seam allowance. I cut the sides that measure 11.25″ with pinking shears.

-There are exposed seams inside.  I used to be very opposed to this, but since I finish the seams with a zig zag stitch, there really isn’t much of a difference in the end result and it saves so much time.

-I use a medium weight sew-in-stabilizer/interfacing in between the outer fabric and the lining. Using an interfacing that has an adhesive on both sides would make the process of attaching the zipper easier.  I get nervous about wrinkles that can appear with adhesive interfacing, so I try to stay away from it.

-I do this cheater thing when I sew on the zipper. I top stitch and attach the zipper to all three layers of fabric all in the same step.  This probably involves breaking SO MANY RULES but it works for me. This is also why I “pink” the ends of the fabric on the sides that measure 11.25″. The first tutorial that I link to does this as well.  It is a time saver and simplifies fussy-cutting.

-I sew the fabric onto the zipper in a particular order so that it doesn’t get all bunchy and awkward in the neck of my sewing machine.  I would love to explain this but I need to just take a photo so that I am able to express myself well.  (Has anyone ever seen a tutorial that explains this part?)

–When I box the corners, I mark a line that is 1.5″ inches down from the corner.  This creates the 3″ width of the bag.

many trips around the world

This lap-sized quilt was the one big handmade item I made this year for Christmas.  I started thinking about it in June and finished hand-sewing the binding just before Christmas.  I made it for my youngest sister and all of the fabric was from my stash. I was first inspired by this quilt, and then this one, and I followed this fantastic tutorial to piece the top.  I was surprised at how fiddly the blocks were to make, but I love the overall effect. The individual squares finish at 2.5″ and the quilt measures 60″x60.”  I quilted it in a simple crosshatch pattern and bound it with a polka dot print plus a handful of scraps to mix it up.  The back of the quilt is also patchwork.

So. What to say about this quilt?  I love it. It houses some of my most favorite pieces of fabric. I love the design. I love the mix of colors. I love the scrappiness. I love that it is crazy busy and there is no place for your eyes to rest!  I love how it is quilted. I love how it is bound. {This quilt! IT IS SO ME!}  I love that it now belongs to an awesome person and very good friend.

When I first picked my sister in our annual Christmas pick, I asked her if she wanted me to make her a quilt.  She said that she was really hoping that was the plan, and ever since, she’s been telling me how she is so excited for HER QUILT. {On Christmas morning, she sent me a text that read:  Merry Quilt Day!} Do you know how nice it is for someone to tell you over and over again, throughout the span of six months, that they are excited to receive something that you are making for them?  It’s really nice!  And you know what else? My little sister is really nice too. I’m so lucky to have her in my life.