more catching up

i think i'm up to date with my quilt alongs. this is my third embroidery block which i finished up last night, but it got too dark to take pictures... (i probably should have ironed out the hoop creases, but i'm feeling lazy this morning) check out Clover & Violet's quilt along.

i wasn't sure if i was doing the stem stitch correctly/particularly well. i do like the jagged edging it gave to my leaf, but it still needs refining to make it smoother.

i actually got to liking the lazy daisies by the end. i didn't like them to begin with, but maybe that's because i wasn't that great at doing them. now i don't mind them so much. don't my little flowers look great?!

i'm looking forward to pattern four and learning/practicing more stitches. :D

catching up

i had a lot of catching up to do today. last week, the hubs and i went camping for a few days, and i was without my sewing machine. lame! but i managed to do some embroidery on the beach. i just can't take a vacation from my crafts!

so today i completed blocks four and five of the skill builder sampler. i love my pinwheel block. i decided to do a dark background fabric rather than the norm of white/light. the pinwheels really pop out.

maybe i'm in a dark sort of mood today because i seemed to pick darker fabrics for my Arizona block too. i still really like it though.

well, i'm glad i'm caught up with this one. now i just have to complete everything else on my to-do list...

finished baby quilt

my sister-in-law is having another baby girl next month, so i decided to make a little gift for them. i've had this finished for a while, but didn't want to post it until i'd given it to her.

i saw this pattern on moda bake shop by Vanessa of V & Co. it's so pretty!! i'll probably end up making a lot of these for gifts...

i love the choice of words. just perfect for a new little baby!

i completed this one entirely by myself... quilting and all. i thought it wasn't such a big quilt, so i would try to handle it myself. it turned out excellent! and it didn't take as much time as i thought it would. it was quilted in just a couple of hours. it's given me the confidence to try and quilt my sister's bigger quilt. i'll still be a bit nervous, but i'm excited to get going on it. now, if only i had a big enough floor to pin it.

i love the wrinkles and crinkles the random meandering quilting makes. i forgot to take another picture of it after i washed it. it looked even more delectable! and i thought i'd throw in a picture of the fabric i used as a backing. the baby's colours are lime green and hot pink; i think this works perfectly!

one project down, another million to go! :)

my hometown

i was so excited to find in my mailbox a few days ago these delightful beauties. ever since i first saw the hometown fabric by sweetwater, i knew that one day, i would have some. i indulged and only got a couple of charm packs, but i couldn't be happier...

don't you just love these colours? and the patterns are gorgeous. but i really like this fabric because of the hometown theme...

i found my current 'hometown': Boise.

i grew up with my family moving to different towns every couple of years or so (although a little unconventional for some, i wouldn't have changed it for the world!) and as a result, i don't feel like i have a solid hometown. i was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and that's where my extended family all reside, but i haven't lived there in over a decade. i'm more of the mindset that the whole world is my home. every new town i move to, or pass through for that matter, becomes a part of my life. at one point, i existed there. that's why i like this fabric so much. a lot of these places have been, are, or will be like a home to me. :)

i'm excited to make my next project out of this fabric. i have already earmarked it for something special in my home.

one thing i LOVE about precut fabric are the edges. as a slightly OCD person, i LOVE how the edges are all neat and orderly and how all the notches match up exactly. such a simple sight, but it makes me feel so good. it takes me a while to open these packs and start working with them because i don't want to disturb the order! anyway, i'm off to sew and write up a few tutorials i have prepared...

a new bag

since finishing the bag i had sitting unsewn for almost a year, i got inspired to make another. i wanted a nice big bag to cram in all my crap. i surfed the web a little to find some inspiration, and came across the (expandable) pack it in tote. the pattern was cheap enough, and although i could have worked it out for myself, it has good instructions on how to do the scary looking gathers around the bottom, and sides of the bag, therefore saving me some time and effort and tears.

a few months ago, for my birthday, my mother-in-law sent me a couple packages of lots of her old scraps. (most not being scraps, but a good chunk of fabric!) well, she also sent me a HUGE piece of corduroy. i love it! my hubby wanted me to make him a sport coat out of it, but i'm not feeling that adventurous just yet. so i decided to use some for this bag. isn't it gorgeous?!

the next largest piece of fabric i had was this greeny gold flowery stuff. and it works perfectly with the colour of the corduroy! YESSSS!

i love that the sides are expandable so if you have a TON of stuff, no problem! untie the sides and squish it all in. this is the kind of bag i would have loved during all my travels. and i'm sure it'll come in handy in the future when i have a ton of kids to worry about.

now.... just to annoy the husband, i have to think of some other colours to make this one out of again and again. i'll have half a dozen before he knows it! :D

taking the cutting plunge

i finally did it. i got brave enough to chop up my fat quarter pack of Sweetwater's Pure fabric. i LOVE this fabric SO MUCH!!

i'm currently working on a few projects with this - a quilt which my husband is calling his own, perhaps some matching pillows/pillowcases, and a few other teeny tiny knick nacks. i plan on having a giveaway of scraps i have leftover in celebration of completing the quilt. so spread the word, and check back soon. i'm hoping to get some more followers through this giveaway and some others i have coming up... i have a few projects i'm working on for other bloggers, so i can't say anything yet. but i'm excited! :D

block three

we're currently into week four of the 'skill builder sampler'. here's week three's block:

week four is a catch up week and we're also learning a little about quilting maths. i'm eager to learn it and some of the rules. maybe then i'll be able to come up with more intricate/triangle-ish patterns of my own.

i'm not entirely convinced that i like this block. i can't quite put my finger on why. i'm thinking it just looks odd on its own, but it might look better when it's arranged into the quilt sampler. we'll see. but i'm excited to do more blocks and bring all the fabrics together in one place.

favourite things

this week i went to a 'favourite things' summer party. it was supposed to be a pool party, but the rain threatened, and never really came... long story and i'm a bit miffed, but whatever! it was a lovely party though, and i got to have nice chats with people i don't often spend a lot of time with. anyway, we were all to bring three of our favourite things:

1. our favourite dish to share. could be sweet or savoury. i brought homemade english sausage rolls. yyyuuuummmmmmmm!
2. a favourite thing about us to share. i brought my flight maps and logbook. i LOVE to fly!
3. a favourite thing to give away. (white elephant style!) since i love to sew, i made a small, cute MUG RUG!!

so i whipped up this cute lil mug rug from scraps i had leftover from various recent projects i've had going on.

here's some detail from a different angle. i really love that red flowery fabric in the corner.

and i just quilted in straight lines. it kinda has a random feel to it. i just quilted where i felt like it!

and to complete the gift, i added a packet of hot chocolate (i know! weird gift for a summer party...) and a plain white mug.

it almost makes me feel ready for winter. almost.

a little something else i've been working on

yep, it's all in the title. can't really say much more than that at this point. but it's really great! i'm excited. i think i excite myself a little too much sometimes...

4th july craft

i suppose i'm starting a new tradition. last year, around this time, i finished stitching an American patriotic cross stitch sampler. it's really nice looking. and this year, as i've been getting a little more into embroidery, i found this simple pattern on another blog i follow: wild olive. there's a bunch more embroidery patterns/other cool printables on there.

all i know is that this is the liberty bell and it rang sometime important... and it cracked. we didn't really talk about this too much in my history class. but i remember it was on National Treasure, right momma? haha. i guess i should brush up on that history!

i sewed this pattern on a scrap of white duchess satin i had left over from my wedding dress material. i have a TON of it and am currently looking for cool projects to do with it. i still have to decide how to mount/frame/display this lovely little piece of embroidery art. i'm thinking i should stretch it over a canvas or something... anyway, we'll see what i come up with next year for my 4th July craft.

Yay for holiday weekends!