Road Trip

I’m taking vacation next week and can’t wait to get caught up on some sewing and blogging, but in the meantime I thought I would share our weekend with you.

We went to Adam’s cousin’s wedding in Chicago this weekend. As you can see Linus fell asleep (blanket in tow) before we ever hit the highway. I worked on the binding of my Berenstein Bears quilt (post coming soon!) Afterall what's a long car ride without a little hand sewing?

The wedding was pretty fancy and long for a little boy, but he did hit the dance floor right before we left. Unfortunately I didn’t have sense enough to get pictures or video.

But the real excitement for me came the next morning when we stopped at IKEA on the way home.

I had never been to IKEA, but have talked about going for something like 10 years so it was a little surreal actually stopping. We went a little crazy, but had a lot of fun! It sure doesn’t top the quilt shop but it was a great feeling to be able to scratch it off my bucket list. So long IKEA! Maybe we’ll meet again in another 10 years.

Tamara

Baby "Cupcake" Mini-Tutorial

Ok apparently I have a back log of posts to write because I really have been doing quite a bit of sewing.  So the first project I want to share with you is this bib panel.

I’m not a big fan of pre printed projects.  Really I’m just not that great at following lines and directions.  But I love how this panel is pretty gender neutral, and thought it would make a quick gift or several for a mother-to-be.

This panel coupled with some coordinating fabric and velcro made 6 bibs.  I followed the direction but I did try using batting in some of my bibs and I liked the extra thickness it gave them.  Also make sure to notch around the neckline before you turn the bib so it will lay nice and flat.

So now for the cool part… In addition to the bibs there are also small and large squares which could be appliquéd on things.  To make 2 very cute little gifts I appliquéd a smaller square on a onesie and a larger square on a pre-folded cloth diaper to make a burp cloth.

For the onesie I folded it in half and rolled it up with the middle coming up into a point.

Then I fastened one bib and folded it like an accordion (3 folds total.) 

I then wrapped it around the base of the onesie, pinned it and voila! A cupcake!

I did the same thing with the burp cloth only before you roll it fold it to quarter of its original width.

To finish of my “cupcakes” I cut out a holder from cardstock using my Silhouette and then topped each with a pom-pom for the cherry. 

I then wrapped them in plastic and tied a ribbon around the top.  And you have one cute little gift for any mother-to-be!

Happy Sewing!

 Tamara

Alien Invasion

Something or rather someone is invading my sewing room!

So it’s time.  I need some sort of shelf or bucket underneath my thread racks but above my sewing machine to keep scissors and pins and seam rippers away from little fingers.

I’ve wanted something for a while.  I feel like I always have to clear off my sewing machine table if I am sewing anything big.

What do you do to keep your workspace clean?

I can't feel too bad.  Adam's workspace is getting invaded as well.  And for once it's not by me!

 

Time for some spring cleaning (and organizing) around here!

Tamara

Everything's Better in 3-D

When Cindy brought home 3-D fabric from the shop a few months ago I thought it was really neat but I just wasn’t inspired.   Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I was standing in the shop staring at it and it hit me… pajama pants!  What kid wouldn’t want 3-D pajama pants? 

That evening Linus and I went over to my cousin’s house where I shared with her my “Coming At You in 3-D” by Hoffman California International Fabrics.  While we ooed and awed over my fabric finds, her geeky engineer husband debated how the 3-D fabric was made and then he came up with the most brilliant idea.  These aren’t just pajama pants they are “3-D MOVIE NIGHT PANTS!”

Taking his job pretty seriously!

Now we just finished our basement and I’m thinking when these pants come back from the shop we’ll have to rent a 3-D movie just for the occasion.  I used the Basic Kids Pants Tutorial from made by Dana.  If you’ve never been on this site her tutorials are wonderful and she’s great at showing you how to make your own patterns. 

These pants were so fast and easy!  I'm completely hooked! I'm hoping to get a pair of flat front shorts made for Linus out of one of Adam's old plaid shirts. 

Ok just one more picture!

"Finally, I get the remote."

If you haven't seen the 3-D Fabric you really do need to check it out yourself. Besides spaceships and planets, there is also dinosaurs, fish, and flowers with honeybees.

Tamara

Spreading Joy

Last evening was chaotic and with all the events rolling around in my head my night was pretty restless so I thought it might be a little therapeutic to take time to blog this morning before work.  No worries we’re all fine, it was only a community meeting, but it did get me thinking about how grateful I am for some of the wonderful people I know.

In January one of those “repost things” was floating around Facebook.  I never do those but this one intrigued me.  You commented on the post and the person would make you something handmade this year.  You then had to repost and make something for the first five people who commented on your post. 

So the quilt in my last post was my first completed project for this challenge.  After it spends some time in the shop it will go to our old neighbor, Kim.  Kim and her husband are wonderful and it was such a blessing to live by them for a short while.  They were both Purdue alums with masters in child development.  While we were there they had their first child, a girl who is a couple years older than Linus.  Whenever I get frustrated as a parent I think back to Kim and her husband.  I admire their patience and calmness as parents.  It often seemed every word or action was deliberately thought out.  They were constantly teaching their little girl about the world around her whether through including her in the conversation, discipline, or even just chores.  I’m not sure I had ever closely watched someone do this with a child under 2. (I have a younger brother and sister, but when I was 8 I really didn’t care about this kind of thing.)  Kim was actually the first person I told when I was pregnant with Linus besides Adam of course.  I’m not sure why but, we were playing with chalk with her daughter and I just blurted it out.  Kim taught me or maybe rather reminded me in tough or frustrating situations to step back breath and collect yourself.  I don’t know if she realized she taught me that, but after all, “Actions speak louder than words.”   To me Kim personifies the idea of leading by example for her daughter and for everyone around her. 

I often times make Christmas gifts for people but let’s face it I’m usually finishing up the last of them in January.  Making a gift for a specific person in the middle of the year has allowed me to think about the art of gift giving.  Kim is also a photographer and the purple batiks in this quilt remind of some of the beautiful nature she photographs.

My challenge to you is this month start a project for someone in your life you maybe wouldn’t normally give a gift to but has meant a lot to you.  It doesn’t have to be anything big, but believe me it won’t just fill their heart, but also your own.

Book Review: Big Blocks, Big Quilts

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law handed me this book from the shop to review.

Big Blocks, Big Quilts by Suzanne McNeill has 11 patterns all using layer cakes. Disclaimer: I’m not a huge pre-cuts fan.  I mean you are never going to like every single fabric in a pre cut layer cake and I want to pick out my own fabric.  I may be sold on pre-cuts now and here’s why.

I made Wee Play Rainbow from a Tonga Treats layer cake.  I loved it!  It was super fast and easy, and I think using a layer cake pushed me to use fabrics I wouldn’t normally pick out on my own.

The book itself is a good resource.  The instructions for making a mitered border were really good, and there was a whole section on just basics like using a rotary cutter and layering a quilt.  I enjoyed reading through some of the basics, reminding myself not to iron but to press.  It would also be great for someone just starting to quilt as a reference book with some good patterns as a bonus. The author also included a few tips for sorting your layer cake.

I had to include this one to show off Linus is and my new couch!

I ended up pairing lights and darks in the quilt I made and I’ll share my own tip on sorting the two.  When I think I have my lights and darks figured out I lay them out on the floor at night* alternating between the two like a checkerboard.  Then I turn off the light in my sewing room but leave a light on somewhere down the hall.  In the dark you can only see value and not color helping you better decipher the lights from the darks.

There's a couple of more quilts in this book I really love, like Cranberry Wishes and Fresh Squeezed. Hmm...I might need to go shopping for some more layer cakes this weekend.

Break Time!

I’ve been working on quilting a good sized quilt last night and tonight but I wanted to take a break to show you some of the new yarn at the shop.  Stop by for a visit and see how nice the newly rearranged yarn section looks!

This is Knitting Fever Petals Yarn and let me tell you it is so cool!  I’m not a knitter and won’t even begin to try to understand exactly how this works but its basically self-ruffling.  See Penny for a free pattern or look here for a video from Knitting Fever.

Next up is this lovely Katia Triana which is similar concept to the Petals.  I really love the blue shades and doesn't it look stellar on Lyneen.

And of course I can't forgot the sock yarn.  Here's some new sock yarn with a sample of the wide range of colors.

  

Ok one last one and then I have to get back to quilting.  I don’t remember what this yarn was but maybe someone can chime in I just thought it looked like a lot of fun!

Happy Quilting!

Tamara