MY favorite quilt

This is MY quilt that I selfishly made for myself.

I adore it to pieces and stole it from the guest bed in my sewing room and have been sleeping with it. After I made it I never took the time to get some pictures of the finished product. So this morning after waking up with it I decided to finally get around to it.

I designed the pattern after I bought a stack of fabric at the closing of a great fabric store. I used the yardage and also a white jelly roll. Funny thing about this quilt is I started the concept and cutting in February 2011 and finished it in February 2012. My skills grew so much in that time period through all the other quilts and sewing projects I finished that the ending product in 2012 was much better than I envisioned in 2011.

See these stacks? This is how the quilt sat for about a year...sad but true



 Than I finally took the time to make it into my favorite quilt....

 The backing fabric of this quilt is on of the main reasons I love it. Big vintage flowery design but in more modern colors. The entire quilt is very springy and reminds of a sunny day with a sudden rain shower like we are so accustom too this time of year.

What I am most proud about with this quilt is the actual quilting I did. I did a zig-zag design through the entire quilt which you can kinda see in these pictures.

 To bind this quilt I used the simple fold over technique. I wanted something very thin so that I didn't loose much of the design.

I went slow and steady and ended up with a very nice machine finish on it. Someday I may take the time to learn to hand bind but when I get to this point in the quilt I get so excited I just want it done!

As is with any sort of new quilt or fabric I buy the poodles love it. This photo was taken just minutes after the final touches were done. I was vacuuming up the threads on the floor and lewie claimed it.



Here Lew is posing with the poodle tag....He really does think this one is his I don't have the heart to tell him its really mine.

Wine Welcome

My front door was white. As white as the trim on my blue house. Nothing special, just a factory white door. In fact, my whole porch area was really boring. Really this porch area had been driving me crazy since we moved in because the original plan was to have a red door (and that didn't happen) and a little different porch entry situation (which also didn't happen thanks to the city's weird rules) Anyway, with the sun shining one morning this spring I decided it was time for a change. With some pinot noir colored paint and some vintage windows I gave it a little pick-me-up which I think has made a ton of difference. Here are the before and after pics!

              BEFORE Pinot Noir                                  AFTER Pinot Noir

BEFORE

AFTER

And now for the vintage windows. I bought these at a little store in Sumner and painted a quick coat of white to make them look a little fresher and Jason screwed them in to hang them up. I decided on windows without old glass panels partly due to our wind and because they were a heck of a lot cheaper!

 All done! (I love before and afters they make me feel like I did so much!)

BEFORE Pinot Noir & vintage windows

AFTER!!!!

Now I just need to find the perfect bench/chairs/swing/something so I can sip iced tea on the front porch with Jason and the poodles!

Bible Covers

Whoa! I have been a long time! Been busy with grad school and lots of projects though. Been sewing a lot, updating the house, celebrating new marriages and of course doing a lot of grad school work. Less about the grad school though and more about the projects. I started off this year by working a personalized Bible covers for each kid in my Sunday school class.

 This project took an unexpected turn when just as I was finishing my last few we found out that the Bibles we had been planning on ordering were no longer available. The problem with this was a size change in the covers with the new ordered ones making it so I had to go back through and adjust each cover individually. In the end I all got done and the best part is the covers are adorable and on the Bibles of all the kids in class!

This is the inside of the cross cover. Put some different fabrics on the inside to personalize them all for the kids.

 

 

Inside flaps hold the book in place. I love that cross fabric!

This one was for the class cougar fan.

All unique and fun. I am very happy with how this project came out and even more excited that the kids actually have been using them! I created the pattern using a few examples I saw online. The softcover of the Bibles was a bit of a challenge but lining the covers with batting seemed to be enough with strong seems.

Anyway, trying to catch up on my project posting. More to come tomorrow!

a desk for me

I love projects. Fixing things up, creating new things, whatever it is, I just love to have a project. I had been wanting a desk for about a year now and of course I only wanted one that could also be a project. Well my husband made my dreams come true(like always he would add). For Christmas he got me a desk that did not fit our style at all, but was big, sturdy and made the perfect project. Here is how this Christmas present project came together.

Here is the desk when we got it home from the antique store.

Ugly hardware, a stain that doesn't match my house, and as you can see below some water damage and scratch marks.

For the desk I went with my usual snowflake white but paired it with a yummy light green to give it a little vintage vibe and match the fabrics I have picked out for the space. I also got 2 of my favorite knobs for the drawers.

 You can see that the puddy, sanding and painting cleaned the top right up. The workspace is now smooth and pretty white. 

Loving the two tone and how great it fits in front of that big window in my soon to be sewing space. I found the sign on top the desk while cleaning out boxes. Almost the exact same green! and the saying couldn't be more perfect for this space. "I'm not messy, I'm creative"

So here to another fix-up-pretty project and is sure to last in our home!

Before:

After:

2011 RESOLUTION MET!

I started off 2011 with the goal to make more quilts. My goal was 11 in 2011. In the process of achieving this goal my addiction grew and I also made some pretty great gifts for the people I love most! As the year turned i was just finishing up my tee shirt quilt.

Uggg..did you see my naked living room behind me in those pics? I also did alot of diy project this year which have really brought that room together. Anyway, as I was finishing up the tee shirt quilt which I discovered the world of pre-cuts and moda. I instantly fell in love with a line of fabric called "central park" I orded two charm packs with no plan in mind and in the end created this last January.

(Lewie before he got his best friend Clark!)

Gosh I love that fabric!!!! After I finished up my central park quilt I helped out Alicia and made little Faith a snugglie flannel quilt with her name. This was a learned alot on this one with using the flannel and doing that applique. I kept a simple design and let the fabric be the adorable part. Its came out great and my favorite part was the back heart.

Its nice to see these quilts again. Its been a while since they were in my hands. After this quilt I decided to take the leap and follow a pattern. I did a simple disappearing 9 patch with some great happy fabric with cute birds on it for Alicia's Birthday.

With Alicia's quilt I also did a cute stripe boarder and quilted the entire thing which was a great effect for the blanket. After that quilt I followed another pattern I had been eyeing for my mother. This is called the lawn chair quilt and was made using moda jelly rolls. The patterned fabric is from the lovely line.

This quilt was the perfect lap size and really fun to make. After that quilt I started working on a gift for another little boy, but after struggling with the fabrics someone had picked out for it I ditched them and created a simple cozy quilt for this little lucas. I backed it with fleece which was great with the satin binding.

After that quilt I began work on a gift for Trish's wedding. This quilt took some planning. I asked all the bridesmaids to make a square and sent them fabric and squares in the mail and they sent them back to me. I had no clue what anyone would come up with but in the end it turned out pretty fabulous. I debated alot of fabrics and it took me a long time to pick out the ones I used but I couldn't be happier with this wedding gift.

Opp did you see it? That was the first of my quilt tags!!!! I designed them, pretty cute huh? A few days after making this quilt we added another baby to our family. Clark!!!! I found him in need of a good poodle loving home at the Tacoma Humane Society and we adore him!

I could probably talk about my poodles all day but instead I will keep with the sewing review. I whipped up this little gift for my mothers birthday! Its a very handy lunch/snack bag. Reusable and oh so cute! It was good to begin to develop some different skills.

After my mom's birthday I began to think about Christmas. I had orded this fabric in July and before the end of August started this quilt for Breanna's Christmas Present.

Simple Moda precut patter using a layer cake and the flurry line. I loved the brightness and cheeryness the fabric had. As fall went on I found less time to sew with grad school and shortly November came and I missed quilting a little, so i found some fabric and made this beauty of a little boys quilt which might be my favorite of the year.

 

I love the vintage looking animals and the way the quilting job came out. The quilt was a gift for Landon who was born the day after Christmas to my alpha xi delta and wrpa sister Parker. Also known as Amanda Richardson.

Finishing up that quilt in November I got started on the serious Christmas projects. The first a tree skirt for myself. I followed a few different tutorials and learned how to make these wonky stars! After that I looked at a few other tutorials and decided to make them in to pants for my tree.

 

After teaching myself to make these stars I discovered I could now just as easy make the more traditional quilt star. So I started work on a quilt that I think makes me a real quilter. Each block took a bit of time but I had an organized assembly line and since cutting the fabric is one of my favorite parts it was not a big deal to get over 200 squares cut. This gift was for my mother in law. The fabric couldn't have been more her.

The trim of the quilt and the strip on the back have words like "snow day" "Merry Christmas" "Deck the Halls" there are even little barns on it. So perfect for her and her home! That was my final completed quilt of the year but I did happen to start some others that I hope to finish this winter. So stay tuned for those. To finish up the Christmas sewing i also made a total 6 stalkings in one week. I had plans of more but finals got the best of me and i had to focus. This first stocking was for Jaiden.

Love that Micheal Miller fabric! I cant wait to use more of it next year for other projects. I also mad three of these for Alicia.

I also made these for Jason and I and our fireplace.

So in total I made and finished 11 quilts (I count the tree skirt because it was just as time consuming if not more) and a hand full of other sewing projects. I gave all but three away to others as gifts and greatly improved my skills.

2011 resolution met! What a great year!!!!