Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Penant Banners and Wedding Crafts!

*Find my Blog Hop Giveaway here - ends Sept. 3*
*Also, 20% off in my Etsy shop until Sept. 3 with the code BLOGHOP9 - pick up a new key fob or fabric lanyard for you or a friend! I've added several new items :)


I finally got the chance to make a penant banner for my friend, Melissa, who just got a new apartment and is starting grad school this week! I am SO proud of her. I found out what colors she was decorating with (red, brown, and I threw in some cream for good measure) and sent her this penant banner :)



And now it's hanging in her living room - I love the way she chose to hang it!


It was a super easy craft that I'm sure I will be reciprocating sometime in the near future, maybe even when I move into my apartment with Mike.

And here are a couple of sneak peeks at the wedding crafts we did this weekend ("we" being my mom and I)... we also finished the centerpieces (that pumpkin is just the start) and finished remaking her veil! It's getting close now!



Doing lots of crafts, quilting, and packing this week before school starts!
 
Linking up to Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
and Linky Party Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River.



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Blog Hop Giveaway!

The Quilting Gallery has organized another awesome giveaway blog hop (thanks Michele!) and us humble bloggers simply had to sign up! My next giveaway (2nd blogaversary!) is within the next month (and I promise it will be fabric, hehe) but today I'm giving away one of my new fabric lanyards.

Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways

This beautiful fabric is "Full Moon Polka Dot in Lime" from Amy Butler's Lotus collection. I love fabric and I think the lanyard would be perfect in either a professional or casual setting. Use it for your ID or keys (I have one for my keys and that's the only way I don't lose them!)


If you would like to win this lanyard, please just leave one comment stating your favorite all-time book. Maybe you have a few (I do): Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and I have to say I think I just read another one of my absolute favorites for the first time: Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. It's going to be a movie in October; I cannot recommend this book enough to you! Anyway, I'm looking for some new reads, so tell me your favorite! You do not have to be a follower, but if you like what you see, please feel free!

ANYWAY, details: Winner will be drawn on September 3rd at 12 noon. I will ship internationally, so you can enter this giveaway from anywhere! If you do not have an email address attached to your account, or are entering anonymously, please include an email address in your comment. I would hate to pick someone who I can't get in touch with!

**I did a huge shop update today and added many pretty key fobs and lanyards, so go check it out! Use this code for 20% off your purchase (early Christmas gifts? back to school?): BLOGHOP9

OH and go visit the other blogs here :) There are bound to be some awesome giveaways - happy clicking!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

"Flying Purple People Eater" - A Finished (Enormous) Quilt

My Made in Cherry in purple and gray is finally finished! My very first quilt that is ALL FOR ME, and it's queen sized - the largest quilt I've made thus far. The happy feeling I have is indescribable at the present time, so hopefully some pictures will explain:





It has allll of my favorite purple fabrics - we're talking Central Park, Aviary 2, Love, Innocent Crush, Terrain, Tufted Tweets, and oodles more (but mostly those). I have been collecting them for 2 years, waiting for the right pattern to come along. Then, I pieced the quilt during the Made in Cherry QAL at Pins and Bobbins earlier this year.



It took me fooooorever to decide how to quilt it (I like to be inspired rather than force it), and I came up with the leaves idea, guided by the squares. My sister Ris pointed out that, between the petals, there are stars! Can you see that? I love it! Didn't plan that! (better pictures of this below, on backing) (ironically, my friend Rebecca just posted some similarly quilted petals too!).


The loops and squiggles in the blank space was on a whim, and I decided not to heavily quilt it.

Ris being a goof, but that's totally normal :)

I'm super in love with the back, too - so much, in fact, that I might just use the back as a front once in a while. I used tons of Kona Cottons, and scraps, along with one of my all time favorite purple prints by Lourdes Sanchez ("Botanica" line). That is one of those fabric lines that I have a deep *need* for... what can I say, I'm a quilter, right?!

Mini star in the middle, to go with the front. You can see the quilting really well on the solids, and the stars they made between them!


My favorite part of the backing (sorry for a little blur) and the scrappy binding. The solids section  took a LOT longer to piece than anticipated, but it was very "freeing."
And, a label to finish it off! Whew! (yes I know it's a bit sideways but I like the charm :) ) If you want to see the reason behind the title - check out this post.

This quilt will happily travel with me to my first apartment with my fiance in a few short weeks!





Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Binding Psychic

Is it bad when you can easily estimate how much time it will take you to hand sew the back of binding onto a quilt? Haha. Maybe that's just part of being a quilter. I just finished my approximately queen size (final measurements and reveal post forthcoming) Made in Cherry purple quilt, and at the beginning, I told an interested friend, "oh, maybe 4 hours for the binding."

(sorry for the bad lighting - there's not a lot of sun today!)

I couldn't have timed it better. I did about an hour a few days ago while watching One Day (awesome book, pretty good movie!) and last night I went to babysit. I started binding at 8 and finished at 11:30, literally 2 minutes before the parents walked in. Okay, so there was an extra half hour in there - I'll have to add that in next time for all the potential thread tangling and changing =P Also, I was watching Wall-E, so I stopped for long periods of time to watch the cuteness unfolding... so maybe it WAS more like 4 hours.

And it's been in the dryer, and now it's drying, and soon there will be a label, and soon there shall be pictures and much warmth (which is actually necessary because we're having a little cool spell here in NJ) :)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Pillow swappage

Tonight at the August meeting of the Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild, we swapped pillow covers! Those who wanted to participate made a 14"x14" pillow cover in any modern style, and their names were picked to get a random cover.


I made mine purely last second (we're talking yesterday), even though I reminded myself publicly on the CJMQG blog (which I manage) that I should probably get started, nearly two weeks ago. I decided to somewhat copy a design I had done on a secret mug rug swap about a year ago.




I love raw edge applique and rainbow colors (can you tell from my last few finishes this year?)! And I was so glad that it went to someone who says she has a blanket to match it to - Rachel!


And I got Jessica Levitt's! Woo! I love it and there's even purple in it! It actually matches our new couch (I feel like a big girl, we actually went out and bought legit furniture on Sunday...)


Not that I can use the couch yet. But it will look awesome with the pillow, and others I now want to make, because pillows are surprising SO easy to make!

Now I'm thinking about how much I can't wait to improv piece these scraps for our September guild challenge...


Linking up to: We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Three developments in my sewing room...

I've clearly been hit with both a decent amount of time on my hands, and a will to get sewing things done. I love it! I usually don't force myself to sew because I want to enjoy it; I always just work on what I feel like working on. It works well for me, except that I have an ungodly pile of WIPS and UFOS that I don't even want to start to share right now.

However... today I finished the top of my wedding quilt!! You know, the rainbow dresdens?



Well, it's done after being in progress for two years (since we got engaged), and I can't wait to share - but I think I'm going to wait until closer to the wedding, when I'm sharing other weddingy crafty things. Mostly because this baby won't be done until early next year (most likely) because guests will be signing 6 inch squares of fabric for the backing, which will be our guestbook!

(okay, here's a sneak peek)

I also started quilting my big purple quilt (finally) (seriously, it's been sitting around for about three months, just waiting).  And I love it so far. I'm not one to practice FMQ too much; I just kind of go with it. I'm also not a perfectionist and I KNOW some of the leaves are off... but I don't care. It's my quilt and I'm so excited to get it done!



Which brings me to my most exciting piece of news... we got the apartment we wanted and will be moving in beginning/middle of September! Which means I need to finish the purple quilt for the couch =D And I'm going to set up my own sewing corner - I can't wait!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Harry Potter Embroidery Patterns for sale from Sew Festive Handmade!

My good bloggy friend Rebecca has written up some amazing Harry Potter patterns, and they are now for sale in her etsy shop. Go check them out! These would make great presents for Harry Potter fans :)  Here's the one I stitched up when I served as a pattern tester (this was my first time embroidering, so forgive any strangeness you see, but I've caught the bug and now I'm embroidering on a quilt):



Too cute! And this is a picture, borrowed from Rebecca, of her beautiful hoops (magic wall, as she calls it):



I can't wait to try "Always!" That's my favorite line in the whole series.
Dumbledore: "After all this time?"
"Always," said Snape.

Okay, my geek is really showing now. I guess it's always showing. There's no point at all in hiding it. :)
So, go check her out - and there's more info on her blog post if you're interested!



Monday, August 6, 2012

Modernista Homemade swap items received!

I got some VERY happy mail recently! Heidi was my secret partner in the Modernista Homemade swap on flickr. She took what I had written as my "likes" and made this absolutely amazing wall quilt!

Modernista Swap goodies

When I saw it on flickr originally I was praying that it was mine! Everything from the rainbow to the circles to the architectural print in the background is so "me." And we can't forget the Anna Maria Horner ;)

It will proudly hang in my new sewing space when I move out soon. And yes, there will be pictures. Thank you so much, Heidi. I literally can't stop looking at it when I walk into my sewing room!

In addition, she made me a beautiful fabric basket, WITH some AMH and Kate Spain fabric! I can't believe my luck.

Fabric basket

If you're interested in joining a fun, modern swap, I highly recommend Modernista Homemade! The next category is "kitchen." I might be skipping out because of the wedding, but I'll definitely be back.

You can see what I made my partner here!
P.S. Look who I found in my sewing room this week...


Sunday, August 5, 2012

T-shirt quilt - done!

I finished this commission t-shirt quilt last week, for a client who went to my alma mater!


I had a lot of fun putting the pieces of the quilt together, trying to achieve a balance between garnet, gray, white, and black (in addition, the backing and binding are solid Kona black) (I'm not even exactly sure if there is a shade called Kona black - it's probably called something else :o)).


I quilted with stippling and added in words, the like the client's name, field hockey, and softball, which were the sports she played. One more thing to check off the quilting to-do list!


In addition, I'm still reeling from the first Coldplay concert I ever attended - last night. It was absofreakinglutely amazing (they are my favorite band!)



^I love that man
Okay, on to some sewing and a wedding dress fitting today! Woohoo!


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Wedding aisle decorations: Pinwheels

One project I finished this week was paper pinwheels to hang off of chairs at the ceremony (it's outside, so I'm hoping they blow around in the wind). This is a grainy cell phone picture from when they were not quite yet done - sorry! I will have better pictures after the wedding (I don't want any guests to see the full effect yet :) )


They were as easy and inexpensive as wedding decorations can get. Scrapbooking paper at Michael's was 4 for $1 one week (I saw 5 for $1 once), and I just picked up a whole bunch in orange, yellow, red (fall colors) and purple (my wedding color). Folded them like accordions, cut them to the size I wanted (or combined two of the pieces) and stuck everything together with double sided tape. I used a single hole punch to make them unique. If someone wants a tutorial, I can do one, but they are super easy and satisfyingly pretty!

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