Weekly WIP 3/27/11

Ok, so I know I skipped a week.  I suck, and I'm sorry.  Will you forgive me?

We're moving in less than two weeks now (at least as long as nothing falls through!), and things are going to be crazy... but in the very very old farmhouse we are moving into, I will have my own sewing room.  I'm not sure how long it'll take before I get it set up.  I'm also not sure about our internet connection there yet.  I may be checking emails at McDonald's for a while.  :-/

So... in line with keeping things short and sweet, here's what's been accomplished & whats pending over the last couple of weeks:

I completed:

• Tommy's Pinewood Derby Car 

• Mending Tommy's Jeans
• Part one of future SIL's shower present 

WIP's include:

• Americana Quilt top- haven't touched it since before Thanksgiving...still
• Hexies. Still.
• The Bottled Rainbow quilt.  I've got all of my rectangles cut & pieced.  I just need to start placing the ticker tapes. 

• Remaining 3 parts of SIL's shower present.  Waiting for fabrics to finish pre-washing.
• Caylin's terrarium science project... Terrariums have been made... experiments in progress.

New projects:

• Quilt for the Modern Relief raffle to help citizens of Japan.  I've already finished designing it, but since I haven't started cutting, I don't thing I can considering WIP.
• Mug Rug for the Sew Happy Geek Mug Rug Swap.  Still time to sign up!

Until next time!

Weekly WIP 3/13/11

To give myself a reason to step back and take a blogging breath weekly, per my New Years Resolutions, I'm instating a weekly WIP.  Each week, I'll give a run-down of my works-in-progress, as well as completed projects & new projects.  I'll include any and all crafty bits as well as things like baking and other projects going on. 

So for this week, I completed:

• Caylin's skirt (Picture to come)
• The Zinger Cake
• Mending of Maya's Skirt & Mike's Hat

WIP's include:

• Americana Quilt top- haven't touched it since before Thanksgiving
• Hexies.  I haven't decided what I'm making with them yet.  I just started randomly basting hexies, and now I've put together a few individual flowers.  Possibly a pillow to come?  Maybe just coasters.  I haven't decided yet.
• Tommy's Pinewood Derby Car- due Tuesday (crap!!)
• Oh- apparently more mending, says my hubs (thanks!)

New projects:

• The Bottled Rainbow quilt- currently waiting for my husband to finish his ironing so I can iron & cut my solids (pick up the pace love!)
• Fabrics are on their way for my future sister-in-law's shower gift.

Sorry for the lack of pictures...  I can't believe how late it is already!  It's always an adjustment with Daylight Savings Time!

The Color Wheel Pillow (take 2)

I'd like to formally introduce you to the Color Wheel Pillow

This bad-boy was made by taking 4 10" squares, cutting each square into 3 slices, and piecing together like a spider web quilt block, with each section the same width. 

In the inside of the wheel, I quilted 1/8" around each seam.  On the background (Kona Charcoal), I did a meandering stitch. 

The backing is Robert Kaufman Metro Circles (white on pewter).  For the closure, I put in 5 button holes with large yellow & green buttons. 

Here are the two of them together.  I made the wheel on the 2nd one a bit smaller- it was hard to tell that it was a wheel on the first pillow.  I also made the outer & middle strips thinner, and the inner larger, it made them seem more proportionate.

I love it & I hope you do to!

I'm entering this into the Blogger's Pillow Party for the month of March.  Make sure you check out the other very very awesome pillows, and maybe even enter your own.  Prize for this month are Sherbert Pips Fabric!! Wish me luck!

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes...

Changes to the blog... The old colors & header were just not feeling right anymore.  The name was fun at the time I picked it, but I think the reference was a bit out there for many people, so I've changed it to something that has meaning for me.  I do hope you like the new look!

Have you seen the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along yet that Rachel at Stitched in Color is hosting?  It should be a great project, and will go great with this:

It's my first color wheel pillow!  This pillow includes some designer fabrics (Just looking, I see Taylor Made, Hop Scotch, Sanctuary, Farmdale, Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Innocent Crush, Mod), some fabrics that I just had on had, and some fabrics recycled from old kids clothes (My indigo slice is really just 3 different shades of denim). 

I've got a 2nd pillow in the works now, refining the technique.  I still haven't figured out how to piece 12 slices accurately enough to make all of the points match up perfectly.  Any tips or techniques out there for that??

Oh... see that there on the arm of the couch?  That's a little armrest pin cushion, with storage pockets, a place for my hand sewing needles & a scrap bag from this tutorial.  I did opt to put the scrap bad on the opposite side of the organizer (on purpose even!), out of personal preference.  Also, I used dried beans instead of rice, hoping for a little extra weight.

See the little scrap hanging out of the bag?  That's some of Ty Pennington's new fabric.  I used it in this bag for my sister:

I used the home decorator weight, which is so soft.  I really love how this turned out!  I'm looking forward to making more of these!

Holy Oversaturation Batman!

Holy cow!  I was checking my flickr account on another computer and discovered how horribly oversaturated those purse pictures are!  How embarassing!  I've fixed them (hopefully) in flickr, but just to keep it real, I'm leaving them up down below. 

My son is home sick today (I'll spare you from the gory details).  Let's just say, its not pretty, and the washer & dryer have been working overtime today.  Coming soon:  Color wheel pillow & Cleaning your machine- important stuff!!

Visiting Parisville

I finished my Parisville purse over a week ago.  I've since been testing it out, carrying it around all over.. figuring out what I liked and what I didn't.  I followed the pattern from One Yard Wonders for the Flouncy Bag designed by Nina Perkins.  I love the shape of this purse!  And the Parisville Fabric from Tula Pink is just perfect for this kind of pretty, feminine bag.  I did make some changes to it including:

• Used the main fabric for the inside of the strap, instead of ribbon
• Changed the inside of the bag to include a zippered pocket, cell phone pocket, open top pocket & card pockets, instead of using ribbon loops
• Added a covered button in coordinating fabric
• Added a magnetic closure

I think it could use some interfacing around the top band to stabalize it a bit, but at this point I'm done changing it.  I would really have to take it apart to put that in, and I'm just not in a deconstucting mood!  I'd rather spend my time creating.  :-)

Also finished is the Noodlehead Gathered clutch that inspired my pillow!  Also made in Tula Pink's Parisville line, I'll be using this as a matching wallet, instead of my ugly brown one.  I didn't make any changes to it, but I think I should've put in a little zipper pocket on the back for my change.  Now I need to make a change purse!

So glad to have these completed!!

On another note, have you heard about Snowmaggedon?  We had over 10" of snow last night during our blizzard (We were some of the lucky ones!  Other places had 18"+!), and while that's really not that much for around here, it was the blowing & drifting that was horrible!  It led to lots of snow drifts, abandoned cars, and closed highways (I can't remember a time that one of the highways around here was closed due to snow!)  The biggest snow drift we had was in the backyard- and was about 5' high... pretty big, but still small change compared to some others we heard about.  So, stay warm, get snuggly & enjoy some hot cocoa!!

Finished! Gathered Pillow

I finally got around to making my pillow for the Bloggers Pillow Party!  This pillow was inspired by the Gathered Clutch Tutorial by Anna at Noodlehead.  I've been wanting to make one of these for the longest time, but I've had other projects that have just been bossy as all heck and pushed this one out of the way.  So, I've decided to use the technique here to make a pillow instead! 

The main fabric I purchased at Joanne's in the remnants section.  I have no idea what the name of it is, or who designed it(sorry!).  The middle fabric is Monarch from the Del Hi fabric collection by Valori Wells for Free Spirit.  What a mouth-full!  It measures about 15"x16", although it was supposed to be 16" square- I'll blame the measuring mistake on this horrible virus I've been fighting.  That works, right?

Want to join in the fun, and maybe win some prizes (this month's prize is a 1/2 yard stack of Innocent Crush fabrics)?  Go here to participate.

PS.  I will get a post of the purse up soon.  I've just been horribly sick & had to get this pillow posted by this month's contest deadline!!