KENDRA'S KINDLE CASE

I was going to call it Kendra's Kindle Kase, but then I realized the initials were rather offensive, though Kendra is decidedly not.  Nevermind.

I have cobbled my pattern together from a bunch of different sources.  The main one is John's iPad Sleeve at the Moda Bake Shop.  I am doing things a bit differently, however, and using 10-inch squares from my stash of Swiss Chocolate by Amanda Murphy, won on Cluck. Cluck. Sew.  Like me, Kendra loves pink, so I thought this would be perfect, especially since it's totally hot cocoa season in the Northwest.

Fun little projects like this are why I love having Regina Bernina.  She's so creative and smart.  I alternated between stitch No. 60, length at two; and my running stitch, or stitch No. 4, length at three.  Worked out perfectly when done in dark brown Mettler cotton.

And here's what it looks like from the right side.

The second side is a darker pattern with the same sort of gorgeous flower designs.  The stitching will fade into the background on that side, but it'll still look lovely.  I'll post again with more details!

TUMMY TIME IN CENTRAL PARK

At least, I hope that's what will happen with this blankie.  I made my second and probably last Ribbon Blankie for my friend Deana and her soon-to-be-born son, Eli.  Her baby shower was yesterday, and she absolutely loved the blankie.

It turned out really cute, but I have to say that although the minky on the back is cute and soft and fluffy, I really don't ever want to work with it ever again.  It stretches way too much for my patience, which I must say is lacking.

I said on Piece N Quilt the other day that even though it was a pain, I didn't mind working with it because of the result.  I take it back!

I used a multi-shade teal thread for the top-stitching and a loop-de-loop stitch.  I will definitely use both the thread and the stitch again.  Forgive the pictures -- it's a bit fuzzy!

WIPs, WIPs, AND MORE WIPs

Actually, it's just two WIPs.  Two I've discussed before.  And to announce that only one person signed up for my giveaway, and that was my friend Nicki from work.  You've bummed me out, people!

Anyway, here's the first WIP.  It's the Vintage Ribbons Table Runner from Moda Bake Shop that I've been trying to complete for a while now.  Pretty much almost finished other than sandwiching, quilting, and binding.  I have a three-day weekend coming up, so I'm going to do a lot of sewing!

My camera still sucks right now.  I need a new one.  I'm hoping I can talk my sister into upgrading and giving me her old one!  Anyway, I tried a few "high-in-the-air-directly-overhead" shots of my WIPs.  Seemed to work okay.

The above shot is a little wonky, but I think it shows the colors really well.  The pattern called for solids, and I just don't care for them.  At least not right now.  But the binding will be solid red.  I think that will provide some nice contrast.  I added the aqua because my living room colors are red and aqua.  Works really well, I think!

And now to more baby stuff.  I got the top sewn for Eli's ribbon blankie.  It's looks so cute that I turned it into my work computer's desktop background!

How fun is that?!  I used my favorite prints and tried to be as random as I could.  I'm very visual, and therefore I have a really hard time with random patterns.  I can't do it.  I had to throw them all in a bag and pick them.  And I still rearranged quite a few!

WHOLE LOTTA CUTTIN' GOIN' ON

Nearly a month ago, I said I was going to my first craft retreat.  Due to crappy Internet service, I've been unable to share everything I got accomplished at that retreat.

One of the big things I got done was my stitch sampler.  I'm in a class to learn all about my new machine, Regina Bernina.  One of our homework assignments, as it were, was to complete a stitch sampler.  I felt pretty lucky compared to most of the ladies in the class -- I only have 85 stitches.  There's one woman who has THE fanciest machine Bernina makes.  She has over 1000 stitches she has to sample.  Whew!  Glad I'm not her!  Anyway, here's the result:

It was a lot of fun to do, and one of my friends, whom I call Crazy, watched over my shoulder the whole time.  I asked her if she was bored at all.  She said no!  Too fun to watch!

And I did a TON of cutting.  I'm 5'10" and I own a very short table on which I cut.  That means I can't cut for long periods of time without getting major back pain.  The house we had the retreat in had a huge kitchen island that was nice and tall.  I set up cutting shop on the island and cut the fabric for an entire table runner for myself.

That's all of it!  It was so nice not to be in pain when I was done with cutting!

After the stitch sampler was finished, I worked on my mom's table runner, which is going to be bargello.  I love bargello, and I've made one before.  It turned out pretty darn good.  So I had a honey bun of Blessings that I'm turning into a runner for Mom.  I already have the tubes finished and ready to cut.

There's four different tubes that I'm going to use.  It's going to be a lot of fun to put together.  I'm even thinking about trying to cut really small strips, like 3/4" to see what happens!  Wish me luck!

And here's an action shot of Regina Bernina because it's awesome!

I'll post pictures of my table runner when it's done -- just have to add the borders and do the quilting and binding!  Woo-hoo!

NAP TIME IN CENTRAL PARK

One of my dear college friends is having a baby boy in May.  Eli has been wanted for years, and we're all so very excited for his arrival.  His mother LOVES green and she's decorating his room with grass painted on the walls, frogs, turtles, etc.  Sounds like a perfect match for Kate Spain's Central Park!

I'm a HUGE Kate Spain fan.  I love her collections.  I'm so excited to play with this one.  Last summer, I made the cutest baby blankie and squishy block for a friend.  I'm going to make an even bigger blankie and a squeaker, squishier block for Eli!  Excitement!  Can I just say that I love the Moda Bake Shop?!

FIRST CRAFT RETREAT!

So, for the first time in my life, I'm headed for a craft retreat!  My dear friend Elena is celebrating her birthday by hosting an all-day crafting bonanza at our friend Robin's great big house.  I work till five, and the crafting/movie watching begins at six.  And because I'm riding with Elena, I had to give her all my stuff last night, including the new sewing machine, which I have now christened Regina Bernina.  Because pretty much anything that costs over $1000 needs a name.  Anyway, I have to say I was a little sad to let Regina go with Elena.  It was kinda like letting a kid leave on his first over-nighter.  'Course, I don't have kids, but . . .

I can't wait to get crafting!  I'm hoping that Robin has a table that's taller than mine, and I can get a TON of cutting done.  That's the part that kills me -- I'm 5'10", and I cut on a really small wooden table.  Can you say, "backache?"  And while I can't afford a new table, I need to get a new cutting mat.  Mine's getting a little brittle.  Hee, hee!  I have honeybun strips to sew into bargello tubes; I have to create a stitch sampler for my machine class (that's project numero uno).  I have fat quarters to cut for this pattern: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/10/vintage-ribbons-table-runner.html.  I have charm squares to quarter for tiny baby blocks.  Lots to do!  We're spending the night tonight, then crafting all day tomorrow!  I'm quite excited.  I will post pictures when I come back!

STACKED COINS LAP QUILT

This past weekend, I finally started the stacked coins lap quilt for my youngest sister.  She and her husband, who is back in the country for her graduation, leave for Sydney, Australia, on August 23.  Needless to say, I haven't much time to finish.

However, I did decide to attempt speed piecing, a technique I've seen frequently, but was always scared to try -- I just didn't think I could pull it off.  I pulled it off!

Isn't that a lovely string of coin pairs?  I was so very proud of myself!  I finished all five columns of coins in about three hours.  If I hadn't breaked here and there to talk to my mom or have something to eat, I probably could have done it even faster.

Here's how the columns progressed:

ConnectingThreads.com collections usually only have 20 fabrics in them, so there are repeats in each strip set.  My very orderly brain has a real problem with being random when it comes to design.  Speech, notsomuch, but that's a different blog altogether.  Anyway, I just can't be random, so I decided to make it very rainbow-ish.  And kinda bargello.

Can you tell what my design wall was on Sunday?  Oh yes, it is a closet door.  I have yet to find the perfect wall for my large piece of flannel.  I think it might be on the wall next to this door.  Permanently.

A pattern is emerging!  Of course, it'll be broken up nicely by the sashing, which is also already cut.  That was a pain!  And I brain farted and started cutting the sashing up for the backing instead.  Oops!  Thankfully, I figured out my mistake before it was too late.  Whew!

I love it!  I think it's looks great.  I can't wait to get the sashing done.  I have to square up the strip sets first, but before I do all that, I have to bake a cake for work, cook some ground beef before it goes bad, and go all the way to Pocatello, ID, which is four hours away, for my sister's graduation!  Sheesh!

At least all the coin sets are put together!  And the sashing is cut!  Hooray!

MORE DETAILS ON THE LAP QUILT

I'm still using my cellphone to take pictures, but I set up the fabrics in a nice bright spot and I've edited them to look a little more lovely and bright than they usually come out.

Here are the charms that will become the coins.  A ConnectingThreads.com charm pack only has 20-ish charms, so I bought four.  They're only about two dollars a piece, so it's not bad.

My sister LOVES pink, and this collection, called Antoinette, is very pink.  It's darling, in fact.  I picked pink fabrics for the sashing and binding because Mary will love that.  Here's a shot of the sashing fabric.  It's a pale pink on white design.

So lovely!  I do my bindings on the bias, and I love using stripes for the binding fabric.  It just comes out fun and funky.  So here's the binding fabric.  It's a medium pink background with darker pink printing.  Very cute.

That will make some fun binding strips, won't it?!  And for the back, I decided to use the focal fabric from the collection.  It's background is white, which is kind of a bummer.  It'll probably get dirty fast if Mary uses it for a lap quilt on the plane.  But the pattern is so pretty, I couldn't not use it!

I'd say these came out pretty good for cellphone pictures!  As for the pattern, it's a Stacked Coins Baby Quilt from Moda Bake Shop.  Mary's only about five-foot-four, so I'm not worried.  And then she can either hang it up or use for when she has kids!

THE FABRIC IS HERE!

My fabrics for the coin lap quilt are here!  Yay!

It's not the greatest of pictures, but it works.  Those cute little pinwheels will now be put aside for this little lap quilt.  I only have a month to complete it -- I seriously doubt I'll need the entire month, but when you're working with a machine that only had one speed, it's really hard to piece something quickly and accurately.  It has to be slowly and accurately.  I think it's time for a new machine.  Maybe in January!

SOMETHING CUTE TO WHILE AWAY THE WAIT

So, I'm waiting for fabric from ConnectingThreads.com to make a lap quilt for my sister who's moving to Australia.  While I'm doing that, I decided I would take the Tweet Tweet Charm Pack my mom bought me, and make half-square triangles out of the fabric.

My god-kids were here today, so they helped me sort my darks and lights, and we got to work.  Emily, my god-daughter, wants to learn to sew.  That was kind of the plan today.  However, even though she's six and has the IQ of Albert Einstein, she decided to run an index finger across the blade of my rotary cutter.  That's what I get for assuming she knew better!  So, no sewing for Emily.  Just some tears and tissue paper.  But she watched, and we did a fun little technique I saw on Moda Bake Shop -- making four half-square triangles with one pieces of Charm Pack.  Put the together RST, sew 1/4" all around the four sides, slice once on one diagonal, slice again on the opposing diagonal, and -- VOILA -- four half-square triangles.  I haven't pressed, but I'm going to do so to the dark side, as it were, and go from there.  Here are some pics.  Excuse the quality -- these are with my cell phone.

So, a little jumble of unpressed half-square triangles.  Fun times!

I tried to show off the different ones I've cut so far.  I have about 12 more pairs to sew and cut.  I'm thinking pinwheels, but I'm going to let Emily choose, since it'll be for her.

Here's a preview of a pinwheel, if we go with that.  I'm trimming the squares down to three inches.  Closest measurement I can get!  Fun times.

Enjoy the pictures.  Love this fabric collection.  It is darling.  So very fun.

LOOK WHAT I GOT THIS MORNING!

Block number two of the Mystery BOM!  Yay!

Of course, I haven't even begun block number one.  Oh well!  Gonna work on it tomorrow.  Out to dinner tonight with the family!

FAT QUARTER SHOP ROCKS

So, you know I follow the Moda Bake Shop. I also poke around at the Fat Quarter Shop quite a bit, and I've been eying one of their Block of the Month Clubs for a while. I decided yesterday that I would join it, since it's actually pretty affordable. Only $10 a month for a block pattern and all the fabric to make it. It'll take a year to complete, but it's using one of my favorite new Moda lines: 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain. I love her designs! Here's a sneak peek, and if you click on the picture, it will take you to the info page:


You can order a finishing kit and a backing kit (kinda wish they came together). That's the expensive part. But it creates a rather large quilt! Yay! I'll keep you updated!

PROJECTS FOR MY MOMMA

I finally bought fabric for Mom's projects! She wants placemats, which I decided I'd make for her birthday, which is in September. I'm thinking I might make them reversible or something like that. Something funky. Anyway, I also bought enough to make a small table runner for her as well. Same fabric collection -- Blessings for Moda Fabrics. It's an older collection, and it took a bit to find some yardage at the quilt shop I visit. Oh well, we got it done! I bought two charm packs of the collection, and I might go back and buy all the rest I can find. It's not my style, that's for sure; but it is very definitely my mom's.

Here's a pic of one of the large-scale focal fabrics from the collection:

I picked this for the back of the runner. That way, she can turned it over and use the pretty backing as a runner, too!

BUNGLE IN THE JUNGLE

I had a baby shower to go to today, and the theme was "jungle." The parents, M and T, decided not to find out what the sex is. Therefore, green, yellow, and brown were the colors of the day. My god-daughter and her mom helped me pick out fabrics last night. We found eight REALLY cute fat quarters. I used a pattern I saw on the Moda Bake Shop -- Ribbon Blanket and Block. Very cute. The pattern called for using Minkee, which I've never sewed before. It wasn't fun -- lots of fuzzy stuff all over my sewing room. But the color was fun -- the Minkee we found is a cheetah pattern with a green background.

The front of the blankie has two each of the eight prints. The block has my six favorite. I picked out nine ribbons. I tried to vary them enough around the blankie.

I enjoyed making this little set. I don't have any ribbon other than this stuff, but I definitely want to make more of these. Too cute!