back at it

Well, hello there! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. (Thanks to those of you who checked in on me....I appreciate it!) I didn't intend to be away from this space for the entire summer, but it was a lovely break. My one goal this summer was to enjoy my kids while they were home and I was able to do just that. I'm so thankful! (Some days that is a miracle, you know?) They headed back to school today, which is bittersweet. They are in grades 7, 10 and 12 this year!!! (I have a feeling there will be a lot of tears in the next 9 months, with a senior in the house....) Anyway, I'm excited for this year and I'm thankful to watch my kids grow up into great young adults.

I'm also excited to get back into the routine of sewing on a regular basis. I have a lot of things to finish (ooof!) and more ideas in my head than I can ever execute, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm super excited to say it again....Happy Monday to you! xoxoxo

a geranium dress for my girl

I'm not a serious garment sewist by any means, but I like to dabble in that arena from time to time. I made this geranium dress for my girl on Saturday evening and she wore it to church on Sunday. (Pattern is available here.) I sewed the size 12 and added 2" to the length, which turned out to be the perfect fit. Hurray for the ability to customize your project! I love how it fits her slender frame. Someday her and I can wear our matching dresses if we care to. (You can see my gingham washi dress here.) I'd better jump at that chance before she gets much older, right?!? :)

I also wanted to take a moment today to say thank you to those of you who left kind comments about my finish it up Friday break. Thanks for understanding and for making it such a fun event for so long. I sure appreciate it!

Happy Monday to you!

moody quilt complete!

Welcome to finish it up Friday! I hope all of you in the U.S. had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to finish the moody quilt this week! Woohoo! It's amazing what a deadline (self-proclaimed or not) will do. Hahaha! I finished the quilt at 12:15am on Thanksgiving day. I gave it to my brother in law to sleep under that same night (morning, actually...) which was a was a LOT of fun! He was surprised!

The pattern is called chain of diamonds from the book No Scrap Left Behind. I enlarged the blocks so they finish at 4" rather than 2" as shown in the book. The quilt uses chambray, linen, denim, and the like for the chains and Kona shadow for the background. I love the combination and how masculine the quilt turned out.

For the backing I used Kona solid in the color overcast (I love that name!) along with a strip of scraps leftover from the front. I do love a pieced quilt back!

I auditioned several fabrics for the binding, but landed on this stripe from my good neighbors collection. (It's out of print, I'm sad to say.) I love that a little bit of my own fabric made it's way into the quilt.

It really is the perfect binding fabric! Look at how well it ties the front and the back together. I designed the stripes with binding in mind, so using them for that reason (again) was delightful. I machine bound it (using this tutorial) for a quick and sturdy finish.

I quilted it on my Janome Horizon with straight lines. Nothing fancy needed! The quilt measures about 64" x 84".

Some of you requested it, so here is a quick picture that I snapped of Curt with his quilt. I know that he likes it a lot! Hurray for a happy finish.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday! Thank you for stopping by and for reading. It means a lot! Happy Friday to you!

a great weekend

I had the opportunity to speak at teach at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in Cedarburg over the weekend. Many thanks to the wonderful students that attended my class and lecture on Saturday. It was a very fun day!

The museum is a lovely little place in an adorable town that I've visited once before, when I took a workshop from Densyse Schmidt. The museum changes the display 4 times a year, I believe. This quilt caught my eye immediately. It was absolutely stunning and it drew me in!

The little cross blocks were pieced from a variety of solids. Each pieced block finished just over 1"or so. (I didn't measure. I didn't touch the quilt, either. :))

I loved reading the artist's description. There are 6,300 pieces in the quilt. (Which just goes to show you that I'm not the craziest quilter around. Hahaha! I mean that with absolutely no disrespect to the maker.)

I've been dreaming of immersing myself in a study of scrap play in solid fabrics for months now, so this quilt really struck a cord with me. I don't think I'm going to go this tiny with my piecing, but I thought it was very inspiring!

When I got home LATE Saturday night, I walked into a clean house, roses on the table and a pile of presents on the bookshelf. My family spoiled me for Mother's Day and it was a wonderful welcome home. I hope YOU had a great Mother's Day weekend as well.

Happy Monday to you!

finding a new rhythm

Summer is in full swing and I'm tired! The kids are home all day, which is great, but it requires a much higher energy (and tolerance) level. As my kids are getting older, I can see how fast the time goes, so I'm trying (trying!!!) to spend more time being with them. I'm trying to enjoy the summer instead of quilting away the rest of their childhood. Most importantly, I'm trying not to lose my mind. Some days (most days!) it's a tricky balance!

My daughter, who is 10, has taken up quilting. It's not easy for me to give up "my" sewing time, but I'm trying to let go and let her sew, too. The other day she dug through my 2 1/2" square scrap drawer, designed a block and sewed it up. I helped press and pin, but beyond that, she made it!

She is doing so good!!!! Here are her first 5 blocks. I absolutely LOVE them! I want to make a quilt just like it, but she doesn't want me to steal her pattern. Ha! She has such a great eye for color and design. Her skills have progressed noticeably in these 5 blocks. Maybe she can finally help me make a dent in my scraps. Hahahaha!

Since she has been sewing on my Juki, I have been spiral quilting my scrapalicious quilt on my Janome Horizon. It feels great to be quilting and making progress on a WIP. Plus, quilting is a relatively easy task to start and stop as the interruptions come along. :)

My kiddos set up an iced mint tea stand the other day...and they had good results. It was unbelievably cute.

And....we've been doing some fishing. Summer goes waaaaay too fast here....but we are determined to make the most of it....sewing or otherwise! :)

a big week

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

It's been a big week over here. Boy, am I glad it's Friday!

My middle child turned 13 on Wednesday, so no more little boy.... (sniff, sniff.) My husband thought it would be a grand idea to buy him a brand new drum set to celebrate this milestone. Things got serious pretty quickly! And loud. HA! Actually, he's a great drummer and it's exciting to be investing in his future in this way....even if I do have to wear hearing protection while I am sitting in my living room. :)

Along with that, I finished writing my book this week. (!!!!!!) I'm beyond thrilled and quite exhausted. Words can't even begin to describe....

Completely unrelated...this is a new quilt I started working on this week. I am loving it so far! And...I'm so looking forward to sewing for fun! Hurray!

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend. xo

it's a big, BIG day

Well, today is a big day in my household on two counts. It's the first day of school. My oldest started high school (!!!) today. I can't even begin to tell you how funny that makes me feel inside. At this point it's pretty much "hold on for the ride!" Sigh. I may have shed a few tears....

The other big news today is the release of my new fabric line! Yep, that's right. Good Neighbors is now for sale exclusively at Connecting Threads! (You can buy it by the yard or in bundles/pre-cuts.) This has been in the works since May of 2014 and I am so excited that release day is finally here! I can sincerely say, I can not wait to see what you make!

Thank you ALL so much for your excitement and your kind comments about good neighbors so far. I never dreamed I would ever see my name on a selvage, but I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to try my hand at fabric design. I appreciate your support more than I can say. xoxo

Happy Monday to you!

fourteen

My oldest son turned 14 (four-teen!!!) yesterday. He has wanted a sew together bag for a LONG time and I finally made him one for his birthday in his signature colors, orange and gray.

This is the 4th sew together bag that I've made to date and I have another one in progress at the moment. They are time consuming and I almost ALWAYS break a needle toward the final stages of assembly, but they are so worth it! Pattern is available for purchase here.

There are plenty of spaces to fill, which appeals to my trinket-loving boy. He immediately filled it with some special Legos. I love that he is so excited about something hand made from his mama.

My husband remarked that my outfit matched my sewing project. It is funny, because that seems to happen all. the. time. (Does that happen to you, too? Or is it just me?)

This is scrap project #85/101!

We had absolutely gorgeous weather here over the weekend and fall is definitely in the air. I started a new knitting project that I've wanted to try for a LONG time...like 6 or 7 years! I'm attempting to make some felted bowls using a free pattern from hither and yarn.

So far, so good! I've been knitting socks on size 2 needles, so knitting on size 9 needles feels like coloring with giant crayons. It's been fun to start (what should be) a quick project. I'm hoping it turns out as good as it is in my head. I'll keep you posted!

Also, thank you so much for all the sweet comments on my 5 year finish! I sure appreciate it! :)

Happy Monday to you!

goodbye summer

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This was the last week of summer vacation for us, so I took most of the week off and spent it with my kiddos. We spent some time with their cousins and then we spent some time preparing for school. It included a 24 hour cleaning stint (their room was a disaster area!!) so cleaning that was a HUGE accomplishment. I'm counting it not only as my main finish for the week, but also a personal victory that all 4 of us lived through it and still love each other. Ha!

I did just a little bit of piecing this week, here and there. I pulled out my solids scrap bin and just started sewing.

I love working with solids. I love working improvisationally. I LOVE playing with color.

This was/is all about enjoying the process. I truly have no idea how it is going to end up, but I'm fine with that.

I DO know that I am not going to run out of scraps any time soon!

It seems like it was just last week when I was asking if we should continue finish it up Friday throughout the summer, and here it is, the end already! I'm so glad that we continued on....it was very helpful and productive! Thanks for the accountability!

Now it's YOUR turn. Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

Oh! And thank you for all your sweet comments on my EPP star quilt from last week. Each and every one is much appreciated! xoxo

in memory of Aunt Janet

First off, thank you for all of your sweet comments in my last post regarding my 250th quilt finish! When I started my blog I had NO idea where it would lead, but I'm happy to be on this journey. I appreciate YOU, my readers, being on this journey right along with me more than I can say. THANK YOU for reading, for commenting and for cheering me on. It means so much!!!

I have another quilt finish to share with you today! This is a commission quilt made for my cousin from my late Aunt Janet's clothing. It is not necessarily FUN to make a quilt out of clothing and I did not have the best attitude during parts of the process, I must confess. But....now that it's done, I am so glad that I took on the challenge and saw it through to completion. I'm very pleased with the results!

For the backing I used a flat sheet from Target. It ended up being more cost effective than buying yardage and the print is fantastic. Not having to piece the backing was a nice bonus!

I tied the quilt with some black string (probably crochet thread?) in each corner. I rolled up the quilt from top to bottom as I tied, which kept me on track. Otherwise, it's very easy to miss a square here and there. It also kept the bulk of the quilt neatly contained while I worked. I pinned the backing right down to the carpet to keep it in place while I tied it, which ended up working well!
For the binding I used solid black jelly roll strips. It was so nice to skip the cutting and just join the strips together. Since I needed 9 binding strips, I was interested in any time saving options available!

I took the photos (with my husband and son's help) in front of the elementary school that my husband went to in Donnellson, Iowa. It was one of our last stops before returning home last weekend. By the way, have I mentioned how much I LOVE old buildings?

I was happy to test it out on a queen size bed at the hotel, since I don't have one in my home. It fit perfectly! (Phew!) My cousins gave the quilt to my uncle yesterday for his birthday. From all reports, it was very much appreciated. Hurray! Makes all the time and effort worthwhile!

You can read more about details of the making of the quilt top here if you are so inclined.

Malena's quilt finished

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I pushed hard this week to finish my niece's quilt. Since it was in progress so long, the finish was all the sweeter! (I got about 1000 mosquito bites while trying to photograph it. That was not so sweet.)

I used my Go! baby to cut out the circles, then I appliqued them (without fusible) onto solid gray background squares using a blanket stitch on my Janome. After all the applique was done, the top went together super fast!

I used leftover pieces of fabric from the front (plus a little extra stash fabric) to piece the backing. It's like a big puzzle and it takes awhile, but it's so rewarding to bust the stash in this manner. Plus, it makes the back so interesting! I really love how this one turned out.

I stippled the background and quilted free hand swirls in each circle. (I used Aurifil #2600....it is THE most perfect gray thread ever!) The quilting on this is far from perfect, but I reminded myself over and over to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and just do it!

Binding fabric is from the Wild collection by dear Stella. Isn't it so fun? It matched the colors of the quilt so well and I thought it was a sweet way to finish the quilt.

This is my favorite detail of the entire quilt. That piece of white binding is only about 1 1/4" long. Eeeep! Makes me smile!

The quilt measures about 60" x 75". Hurray for a finish!

 

Thanks for your feedback (last week) about whether or not to run finish it up Friday through the summer. Based on your comments, I plan to keep up with it as much as I can. I love that it helps me stay motivated. I can ALWAYS use the push to get things done. :)

 

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week! Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

eight is great

These past few days have been completely crazy, but I managed to finish another sew together bag! This one is for my daughter, who turns (turned?) 8 today. (Kids' birthdays=a whole lot of work for the parents! Phew!) I made this one without breaking OR bending a needle. I'm pretty happy about that! It's the year of the sew together bag for my kiddos. Two down, one to go. I kind of think I should make the 3rd one now while I'm still in the groove! If you aren't familiar with the sew together bag, it's a handy zippered bag that was designed for carrying all your sewing gear. My kids each want one to store their treasures (of any kind) inside. I can't say that I blame them!

(The pattern is available for purchase here, if you are interested.)

My daughter loves color as much (or perhaps even more?) than I do, so I used as many fabrics as possible. I counted 11 in all! She's gonna love it!

Actually, I was inspired by this piece of artwork that she drew a few weeks ago. I found this list next to it, which are the rules for her drawing class.  

Tip #1: use as many colors as you can.
Tip #2: take your time.
Tip #3 always take a good look at what you're going to draw.
Tip #4: try your best.
Tip #5: Have Fun!

Isn't that awesome? I especially love tips #1 and 5. I'm going to have my husband laminate this and keep it forever and ever. I think I could apply these rules to my quilting, too!

A's abstract finished

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Yesterday I finished my daughter's second abstract quilt. You can read more about the design in this post. Photo taken in the middle of the street (again), but this time in the middle of a snow storm. Fun times!

This is where one of my carefully pieced quilt backs ended up. It's been a long time since I stippled a quilt and it was actually fun and relaxing. (I know that sounds weird, but it's true!) For speed and durability purposes I finished the binding completely by machine. The elephant fabric was originally purchased for a different quilt, but it ended up on this one instead. It's a perfect tie in to the front (color wise) and my daughter absolutely loves it. The binding is Kona Azure. It was THE only fabric in my stash that matched. Thankfully she approved. :)

It was very fun to tuck her into bed last night with her new quilt. We are both very pleased with how it turned out! It measures about 66" x 62". And....this is scrap project #53/101.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!