Saturday, November 2, 2013

Hello again!


It's been awhile...a long while. But if you haven't guessed from the photo above we've had some big changes to prepare for around here. Yes, we're expecting, and it's a girl! We are so excited to welcome Baby Hardcore and we're now only three and a half weeks away from her due date! It seems like this pregnancy has flown by, almost as soon as we found out we were expecting we started renovating our house. We added a guest room to our finished basement, so with that project and getting Baby Hardcore's room ready...we had one busy summer! I'm glad it's all done now and we can relax for a few weeks before she makes her appearance.

I'm working on a baby quilt, hoping to get it done at least near the time she's born, but I've also been busy scheming plans for all the cute clothes I want to make her. Girls are so fun to dress! Now, I've been pretty much terrified of apparel sewing, but I thought sewing for babies has to be easier. They are small...and they don't have as many curves and angles to work around-right? So I tried a simple dress first.

I'm in love. I'd been waiting for the perfect project for this adorable gnome fabric and the idea for a Christmas dress was born.


Those little gnomes kill me! So cute. And I love the added detail along the hem that the rick-rack provides.

I used this tutorial which was very easy to follow and comes with a pattern to print out. I highly recommend trying this dress if you have a baby girl to sew for. I'm pretty sure I'll be making more! Now to make her a little gnome hat...

Monday, April 1, 2013

Two More


Two more Farmer's Wife blocks done! Top-duck and ducklings, I love that yellow polka dot. The second block is darting birds.

I've already cut the pieces out for two more-I'm on a roll!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Farmin' Along

Happy Resurrection Day! I love celebrating how Christ conquered the grave-what an awesome event!

About this time last year I started the infamous Farmer's Wife sampler quilt. Have you heard of it? The book includes letters from 1920s farm wives who responded to a question posed by The Farmer's Wife magazine-If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, want her to marry a farmer? The letters are pretty fascinating, but then I've always had a flair for history and trying to imagine another place and time. Anyway, along with the letters are instructions and templates for 111 different blocks (eee-gads!) from that time period. Quite a challenge. Most definitely a long-term project. As in, hopefully done before my hair is grey. I first saw an online FWQA here, and was inspired by all the beautiful blocks people were making, pairing traditional block designs with contemporary fabrics and colors.


So one year later and I've got 25 blocks done. Not quite a quarter of the way there-ha! But it's all about the enjoying the process, right? And I LOVE these blocks. Even though they're time consuming, they're still so fun to make. I like choosing the fabrics and seeing each block take shape.


Here are a few close-ups of my favorites so far. This first one is cut glass dish. I love that Nicey Jane fabric in squares.


Second is country farm. The deep navy blue really makes this star pop.


Finally-country path. When I first saw this block in the book I wasn't sold. But after seeing translating it to fabric form-lovely.


This weekend I've been working on these next two blocks. Lots of little pieces to cut! Which, by the way, Camille has some nice time-saving tips for cutting and assembling these blocks which I've found really helpful.





More FW blocks to come!

 


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Weekend Breakfast

Most weekends I look forward to making something special for breakfast. A change from the usual work morning rush, where I would typically grab a bowl of cold cereal or take something like yogurt to eat a work. This weekend I've been sick with a pretty nasty cold. So my sweet husband got up extra early Saturday morning to put dough in our bread machine to make this:



This cinnamon swirl bread is even yummier than it looks, especially still warm from the oven. Just one little thing that makes being sick a little better :).

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Granny's Galoshes

Remember this quilt top? I used leftover 2 1/2" squares from another quilt to make it. Well, those vibrant little squares came from my Granny Squares quilt, which I started spring of 2012 and just finished a few days ago!


I can honestly say I enjoyed every step of making this quilt. I started by pulling out old scraps of fabric, looking for bright, bold colors in yellow, blue, red, pink, purple, green, and aqua. I wanted saturated color. Unbridled. Brassy. And totally me.



Last year the Granny Squares pattern spread across the web like wildfire, and I couldn't wait to make one of my own. Most were using some kind of white/off white background to make their little squares pop, but I wanted something different. I think this pale grey (Silver Lining from Connecting Threads) off sets my little squares nicely, contrasting the cheerful colors with a more somber yet soothing tone. Much like a pair of bright galoshes on a rainy day. I love the sound of gentle, falling rain, and being a kid again-stomping in all of the puddles.



I hand quilted this one. I knew it would take time and I wasn't in a hurry. I enjoyed the process, and I'm already thinking about the next large project I'll quilt by hand. Hand quilting is peaceful, and I love the homey, imperfect look and texture it gives. Some things are just worth taking your time for.

This quilt has become my favorite, I could just stare and stare at all those sweet little squares. It's very fitting for spring actually-and finished just in time!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Style

When I first started quilting, I was all about warm fall colors, 1930s and Civil War repros, and calicoes when choosing fabric. Wow, how my taste has changed! Those fabrics still have a place for me, but in general I've moved into the contemporary realm. Big, graphical design. Bright colors. Geometric. There's a steady stream of awesome fabric coming out.

I never really considered my taste to be 'feminine' or that I'd be into florals. But I guess I am-evidence below. Ever since I used Nicey Jane in a baby quilt for a friend a few years ago I've been totally taken with it. I don't remember what the pink and purple fabrics are, but they fit right in with that pretty, feminine vibe.


This bundle comes from the Children at Play line, and has been really popular for some time. I like its whimsy. The designs are soft and fun.

Another collection I've been drooling over for some months is Madrona Road. I wasn't sure about this one at first, but after seeing a few others make quilts with it-I was totally hooked. This one in particular. The text print-sigh! And I think those haystack prints (here in pink and grey) would be great in just about anything.


So I know that I love COLOR in my quilt-making. In fact, I tend to feel 'blah' about a quilt until I get just the right fix of color. But I'm not entirely clear on what patterns I'm drawn to...I have trouble summing it up...but I know it when I see it.


Going to see Project 86 this weekend. I'M SO EXCITED!



Saturday, February 16, 2013

Blocks

A few blocks to share. First, two Drunkard's path blocks as part of Curves Class. These really were not too hard, though making a whole quilt out of them would be a challenge! The original project was potholders, but I think I will turn these into mug rugs instead.




Last night I pieced these two star blocks from my scraps. My Guild requested 12" (finished) star blocks in red, white, and blue for Quilts of Valor. Any star we wanted, any shades of red white and blue. So I pulled out my Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters book since all the blocks are designed to be 12" and they have a whole section on stars. I decided to try the 8 point star, partly because I like how it looks and partly because I already had red white and blue scraps cut to the right sizes ;). I think they turned out pretty nice.



Enjoying the sunshine and the break from winter storms this weekend...starting to look forward to spring already!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Irish Chain-Finished!

Finished my Irish Chain wall hanging over a month early-booyah! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I don't think my piecing was so bad considering all those tiny squares! I don't know people have the motivation or patience to make an entire bed quilt like this. Seriously. So. Many. Squares.


I really debated how to quilt this one. It seems like I usually wind up quilting some kind of diagonal intersecting lines, and I was bored with that. But in the end, I didn't feel like anything else (that I could actually execute) fit well with this traditional pattern. So there it is. It's now hanging where my advent quilt was...yes, the holidays are over. I'm usually brought to that conclusion kicking and screaming every year because I hate facing the long winter months after Christmas. We finally took our tree down two weeks ago...hey it still happened in January-that's progress for me!

 I started a new quilt over the weekend and made good progress on it. Unfortunately I can't share any more on that yet, it's a top secret project to be revealed late ;). Have a good day!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Rainbow Road (Curves Class Project)

Finally, a finish! Last week in Curves Class Rachel taught us about improv curves. The project I was most excited to tackle was Rainbow Road-a fun, colorful table runner. The improv piecing was a lot of fun (and hard to screw up!) but I will say I had some difficulty joining the rows. You basically wind up overlapping the wonky rows, then trimming them simultaneously so they have matching curves...then flip and stitch. It was the flip and stitch part that was hard for me. Comparing back to Rachel's sample, I think my curves look a little lame. They're just not the soft, rolling hills and valleys that I was hoping for.


Still I'm happy with how this runner turned out. I used a charm pack from Connecting Threads, it's really colorful and vibrant-perfect for summer I think.


For the quilting I followed the dominate curves between rows. I took Rachel's suggestion for the back and used a heavier home dec weight fabric by Amy Butler (same fabric I used for my tote a few weeks ago), no batting. I really like the weight of the runner without batting, and how flat it lays.



Curves Class has been challenging, but in a good way. I feel like I'm learning a lot, definitely need more practice is some areas though.

Going to veg on the couch for awhile-was out shoveling about a foot of snow and I'm feeling it!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Catch-up

It's been busy around here and I was out of town for a few days so I'm a little behind on some of my projects. I have made progress though, and I even have a couple of finishes to show off, but unfortunately the weather has not been photo friendly lately.

So, I'm taking this opportunity to journal about a couple of things I made last year.


Last spring I saw these herringbone blocks popping up everywhere and they looked so fun I had to try. I used mostly scraps for this quilt, all colors except brown, and a herringbone block tutorial from Rachel at Stitched in Color. These blocks were really fun to put together...except when I got to the squaring up and joining part. Lots of times my seams didn't match up from block to block. I remember trying different cutting techniques to try and be more precise or at least consistent, but never really figured it out. Instead I just 'auditioned' where each block should go based on how well the seams matched. It turned out pretty well save for one seam that's pretty off-can you find it?!

This quilt is kind of crazy up close, but I like the effect when you step back and look at it from a distance. I sold it to a friend who's making good use of it. I've recently seen others make these blocks with a more controlled color scheme and I love how that looks, some day I'll try it too.

Another trend from the blogging universe-dresden plates. I've noticed that I like to try new things a lot, and rarely make the same block or design twice. I guess I get bored easily. Anyway, I bought the EZ dresden ruler and used a charm pack of Sweetwater's Reunion fabric to make this pillow cover. I think my favorite part is the echo quilting in the grey background-I love the texture it adds! I submitted this pillow to my Guild's 2012 quilt show and it took second place in its category. I was blessed to have my family and friends come see my entry and support my hobby-they're pretty awesome.

Hopefully I'll have pretty new photos soon! Hunkering down for another snow storm headed this way...

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Curves Class-Baby Bib

Second project from Curves Class-baby bib. Didn't it turn out cute?! So simple too. I only had time for one, but I know I'll be making many more of these.

I followed Rachel's recommendation and used flannels, but I think I could use knit also. I think either of those fabrics would be more absorbent than just straight up cotton.


Sadly my blog and sewing room will be quiet for the next few days. I'm heading to South Carolina for work. The timing isn't too shabby-it's supposed to be below zero in Wisconsin, and in the 50s and 60s in SC. I think I can handle that :).

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Donuts

One of my husband's favorite things is donuts. He seriously gets giddy when someone mentions running out for donuts, it's comical. I like them too, but I don't like the calories that come with them! So I started seeing bloggers trying out baked donut recipes and thought it was worth a try.

My mom gave me a donut pan for Christmas and since then we've made three batches, each better than the last.

This morning, we tried these Baked Maple Cinnamon donuts. I can't believe how light and fluffy they turned out! They tasted really good too, not as sweet as we were expecting but that's OK. Debbie at A Quilter's Table has a great listing of recipes here.


Next up, we'll try these Dark Chocolate Carmel Glazed donuts...oh my...this is getting addicting! We'll have to start exercising more to support our donut habit. Good thing I got Wii Zumba from my MIL for Christmas. Which, by the way, I've never felt more like a dork than when I tried that for the first time-those moves are HARD! My hips don't necessarily want to move that way! But we will conquer you Zumba.

Still working on sewing projects, just haven't had a lot of finishes or photos yet, it's coming though! Curves Class is going smashingly, will share latest project soon.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Scalloped Bunting-Curves Class

It's here-the first week of Curves Class with Rachel at Stitched in Color. Today I made the scalloped bunting for my sewing room. I used Ruby and Vintage Modern fabrics (I think? Definitely fabrics from Bonnie & Camille anyway) that I've been saving for something special. The double fold binding tape made the project easy and quick.


This project was so fun to make, I can totally handle these kind of curves!

This picture didn't turn out so well-the sun was setting. But I think it still looks pretty sweet.

Happy trails :)

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Layout

I've been working some more on my girl baby quilt. I decided to mix in another block. It's very simple, just a four patch with a border using the same background fabric as the other blocks. I thought a simpler block might enhance the overall design a bit. But now I'm stuck on the right layout for the blocks-would really appreciate input from any readers out there! I haven't finished all of the blocks yet so visualize with me...

First option-alternating blocks, simple and sweet? Or too plain?


Second option-four patches in the middle, gives the eye a place to rest in the middle...but is the border to busy?

I'm hoping to get this top done soon so I can move on to other piecing-always thinking of new tops to start!

Looking back...

I haven't had any finishes in a while, so I thought I'd share something I made around this time last year. It's a baby quilt that I donated to my Guild to go the Teen Parenting conference. I used a tutorial from Frozen Knickers to make the blocks-it was a fun, quick quilt.

I was able to use up quite a few scraps for this quilt, and originally all of the background fabric was going to be the lighter grey. But I ran out of it so I decided to alternate with a darker grey. I think it turned out even better. Sometimes I end up with happy mistakes.


The quilting was a bit of a bear because I decided to sew in the ditch for the center square and along the outside of each block, so it was a lot of maneuvering. For the border I quilted random lines up and down along each side. I love the texture of this quilt after washing it.


I would definitely make these blocks again, the quilt went together pretty fast and the movement of the squares is fun-reminds me of confetti!

Will be watching the playoff game later, Go Pack Go!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Progress

In the last few days I've made the progress on the projects I'm supposed to-woot! I usually just get distracted by something else...a new project...OK there was some of that too.

Up first-Irish Chain wall hanging. When I started this project I had four blocks, and immediately decided it was too small. Before setting it aside for months I had five more blocks nearly made. I can't believe I lost focus with so little left to finish...but actually I can because I have a pretty short attention span :). So I had five more blocks added to this top in no time. I'm going to stop here and move on to quilting this sucker.

BTW, did I make my Irish Chain according to the traditional pattern? I've seen it arranged differently, so that the four nine patches don't meet in the middle, but this is the block I found for Irish Chain in an old quilt book of mine....hm.


Next there's the baby girl quilt blocks from the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters book. Two more blocks added:


I've been collecting the little triangles left from these blocks in this sweet bowl that my awesomely talented little sister made for me.

  Don't you just love it?! It's even my favorite color.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Curves Class!

OK, I don't really make New Year's resolutions, but I occasionally set some goals now and then. And I recently decided I should try a class of some sort, but I wanted something with a more contemporary focus.

So, I signed up for Rachel's Curves Class. I just got a peak at some of the projects and plans for this 5 week course, and I'M SO EXCITED to start! I've only had one run-in with curves in my short quilty life, and while it went well I sort of felt that was a fluke (how could my curved pieces line up so well on the first try?! no way.). So this should help give me more confidence to try incorporating curved piecing into more of my projects.

For more information on this class and others that Rachel offers, click here.

And because I like photos in all my posts...here's one of the Lilies at my first house. I miss those Lilies! Already looking forward to spring flowers...


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Irish Chain WIP

I've always been fascinated with all things Irish. I don't know why, I don't think I have Irish heritage (but that would be so neat!). So a while ago I decided I had to make a traditional Irish Chain wall hanging for my house. I made four blocks at a quilt retreat out of small 1.5" squares, joined them, put it on the design wall....and there it has stayed for almost a year. Sigh. I think once St. Patrick's Day came and went last year I just lost motivation to finish this in a timely manner.


So I must finish it before St. Patrick's Day this year! Please, do hold me to this...if any one's out there reading :).

In other, completely unrelated topics, I randomly decided I needed a tote bag to carry books and magazines and such. I had grand plans for a patchwork or pieced tote of some sort, but (very) quickly lost steam on that front and wound up with this.


I think the fabric is Amy Butler, I bought a boat load of it a few years ago...can't figure out my original intention for it...but it was a nice, soft and sturdy fabric so away I went. I used batting and quilted just a few straight lines, the lining is a fun coffee cup print.

Happy January 2nd!