Labor Day Sewing

It's been a busy weekend here and not too much time for sewing, but I did carve out a couple of hours yesterday and plan on more today.  My sisters-in-law came to visit.  They haven't been here in a long time, so of course we made lots of jokes about once in a blue moon, referring to Friday's full moon.  Lots of chatting and great food.  But I digress...on to the sewing.

I made another one of these cute wristlet pouches from Caroline at Trillium Designs:

 I made a couple for my daughter a while back and they are so handy and easy to sew, I knew I would make more.  Before I start sewing for the folks I want to gift them to, I wanted to make one for me.

 You know how that goes, right?  We get all caught up in making things for others, and we love doing it, but at some point we realize we have none of our own handmade quilts or other items.  Especially if it's a favorite pattern.

 I love how it fits my phone and my ID and credit card.  I daresay I could slip in a couple of bucks and my keys if needed.

 Here it is all closed up.  I love the Children at Play fabric and this is the last of my blue and red stripe from that line.  I am happy to have a little bit of it for my own.

 In my reading of blogs this weekend, I came across this.  I know we have all seen it, as it is not new, but I resisted until now.  I bought the pattern and can't wait to start pulling fabrics for it.  I might even do that today.

The last thing I did yesterday was to play with these pretties which I pulled a week or so ago.  They are all from my stash and the selvedges say some were printed in 2003.  I have been looking at them for a bit, waiting for inspiration to strike.  These are for the Leafs Me Happy block Blog Hop that is coming up in October.  Don't you just love fall?  The colors, the cooler temps...the yummy foods.  Okay, I have lots of sewing to cram in today.  Maybe I'll see you back here later this week.
Have a great Labor Day.

Texting While Sewing #3

This is my third and final entry for Amy Friend's During Quiet Time Texting While Sewing Contest.  It is number 3 in a set of blocks that will become a wall hanging.

 This one is made using Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Modern.  I had a layer cake of it (pun not intended) and thought the stripe in a gentle pink made a perfect cake.  I used the same Make Life and Sunkissed fabrics for the cake stand and the frame so that all three would look like a set when put together.

The topper of this cake is a tiny fussy cut strip of what I think look like strawberries, again from the Vintage Modern fabric layer cake.  This whole cake looks sleek and modern to me.

So in case you missed the other two, here they are again:

I want to thank Amy for this great idea she had.  This was so much fun to do and really made me work outside my comfort zone.  I loved making these.  And thanks to my daughter who helped me with the idea and the initial sketches of these cakes.  As a baker, it should have been an obvious choice, but she pointed me in the right direction.

Texting While Sewing #2

This is the second cake block I made for Amy Friend of During Quiet Time, Texting While Sewing contest.

This is actually the first one I made. 

Here is a closer look.  I like this one too.  I used a soft pink floral for the cake and the same Sweetwater Make Life print for the cake stand.  I also framed it with the same Sunkissed text fabric.  I feel like each cake got better than the one before it.

Texting While Sewing #1

Amy Friend of During Quiet Time  is hosting Texting While Sewing this week.  I love some text fabric.  I knew I wanted to play along.  Some of these are really cool.  I ended up doing three as a set.  This one is my first and most favorite.

 I used Riley Blake Ombre Dots for the cake.  I love the look of the gentle fading from layer to layer.

 The cake stand is made from Sweetwater's Make Life fabric line.  I thought it was perfect for this.

The "frame" of the picture is Sweetwater's Sunkissed line text fabric in grey and pink.  I tried to mimic the lightly drawn flowers as the topper of the cake.  As I said, this block is my favorite.  But in other posts, I will show you the other two, as this turned out to be a set of three which will be wall hangings.

Another Baby Quilt

I bought this fabric before Baby B was born, right when we first new he was a boy.

I love this.  It's Michael Miller and I thought it would be great as a back for a baby boy quilt.  But I could never come up with an idea that I liked.  Then, this week I felt a need to go with it.  I pulled a bunch of dots from a 10 inch square swap of dots and solids I had recently done and some from a layer cake and a few prints and I had this:

 I include just a few squares of the boy prints.  There are also some puppies from Sherbet Pips and some that are also Michael Miller that match the boy print.

 I am so happy with the way it turned out.  And it was very fast.  It took about 5-6 hours total from start to finish.  These pictures are before I put it through the washer and dryer to crinkle it nicely.

 The  binding is also Michael Miller...Dumb Dots blue with grey dots.  I do love all the dots going on here.

 Here is a shot of some of the puppies.  I only had a small bit of these fabrics.  I also didn't use any really small dots on this patchwork.

Quilt measures approx. 40 x 42.  Have a great weekend.

More Pillows!

Don't you just love pillows?  I love that they are smaller than a quilt, so quicker to make, and yet can be just as creative to design and sew.  I made a couple more this past week, just finishing one yesterday.  It was a rainy day, so perfect for sewing.  Warning: Lots of pictures coming folks.

I have had two rather large pieces of fabric for quite some time now.  One I know I've had for about 3 years.  I loved it so much and I bought 3 yards of it on sale.  I have never been able to figure out how to use it.

 This is the pillow.  It is raining again today, so no good lighting for pictures, sorry.  The dark brown strip is pleated.  The back has a zipper for easy inserting of the pillow form.

This fabric is Honey Meadow from Michael Miller.  I bought 3 yards of it, but could never decide what to do with it.  Last week, I decided to make a pillow, so I could at least enjoy looking at this beautiful fabric all the time.  I still have 2 1/2 yards left to put into another project.

The next pillow is made from this and it is my favorite.  I bought 2 yards of this Anna Maria Horner Lou Lou Thi print.  I love the bold floral design.  I have been trying to make myself cut into it.  I kept thinking I wanted to do something to show case the print and maybe embellish it a bit.  Then, the pillow bug bit me.

 Here is the completed pillow.  it too has a 16 inch zipper in the back.  I wanted to center the blue flowers, as they are my favorites.  Then I got out my embroidery floss and went to stitching.  Just take a look at the pictures:

I tried not to over do the embroidery, but to spread it out over the print.  I didn't want to put French knots in all the little pink and brown buds, for example.  I am in love with this pillow!

And lastly, a little happy mail.  I have been pretty good not buying fabric this summer, but I have been waiting for this one for a long time.  I judiciously chose these 6 prints.

Perfectly Perched by Laurie Wisbrun.  Hope you have a great Monday, even if it's raining where you are.

Whole Cloth Baby Quilt

I actually finished this on my staycation last week, but I didn't want to post about it until I gave it to the new momma-to-be.  When I saw a picture of this print on a blog somewhere, I was immediately taken with it,  and knew it would be perfect for my friend.  Shore thing by Emily Herrick.

My original idea was to quilt in the white triangle spaces between the sails.  I did about 4 and ended up hating it so I picked it out.  Then it hit me...small waves, you know, the kind we drew as kids.

                    And they were pretty simple, but sometimes, simple is best, right?

                                           Here is a close up.

 I love this quilt so much.  The Momma-to-be liked it too.  They have a bunch of nautical stuff for his room, so this fits right in.

                    The back is a Kona solid called Regatta.  Appropriate, don't you think?

                                    And a pale blue print from my stash for the binding.

                                            Ready to snuggle that new baby boy.
Have a great day.