I have been sewing quite a bit. A few birthday presents for kids that left before I could snap a shot. A little twirly skirt and a zippered pouch meant to hold tiny horses.

I finally finished the Doll Quilt for Iz. I started it a while ago, and finally finished sewing on the binding. I love her reaction when I make her things. So thrilled and she just loves everything I make, and you know that makes it so much easier to keep making her things.

Remember this hat I made for Iz last year. Well I’ve been noodling with the pattern and have already made this one, then I made this one:

I am really in love this with hat. The brim is nice and big to keep the sun away. I am even thinking of making a few out of felted sweaters for our nice cold spring, or next winter. (the lovely pics are from my HomeSchool LuckyStitchers – thanks guys! you ROCK!

I made a spring coat (Built By Wendy, Simplicity 3966), and I am so not in love with it. It’s HUGE! I made it two sizes smaller than what the pattern suggests, and it is still too big. The fabric is wonderful, I love the bright green lining and I am thinking big black bakelight buttons. I haven’t hemmed it yet, I think that I just need to make it the right length and it will be flattering. I’m bummed. I still need a spring coat.

I am almost finished with a lovely wrap dress. I’ll post pictures of it when I’m done (soon, soon, soon)

I am super excited about my next big project. The girls have been wanting to make quilts, and that’s what we are doing this month at LuckyStitches. I’ve also been trying to get everyone to think about their resources and using what they have, so I’ve asked them all to bring a bag of old clothes, bed linens and fabric scraps to share. These items up for swap go in the center of the table and the girls can grab and trade as they cut 3″ strips.

Or tear 3″ strips. Everyone got a bit of practice doing one of my favorite things, tearing fabric. With a little snip at 3″, then a good strong pull on either side and sheets and big pieces can rip beautifully. I love their faces when they make a little magic too.

Here’s the start of mine. From left to right – tweed pants, angora sweater, wool flannel pants. I’m not an earthtone kind of girl, but I am falling in love with these textures and colors. I have a bit more cutting to do as next week we’ll start sewing our scrap strips together.

I’m asking everyone to save all of their scraps from their cutting of the strips and we are going to try to use everything. I’m looking for scrap projects, so if you know of any, please share!

Happy Sewing!

We had a birthday to attend to this weekend, for a 4 year old. I’ve quietly promised to use things I have on hand. I found a aqua with yellow dot coverlet while thrifting and a scrap of this red dot and thought they’d work well together (and you know about my aqua and red thing of late…) and I had the All For One Bag pattern from Besty Ross Patterns, just waiting to be stitched up…

I initially thought I’d line it, but instead did a little French Seam Action on the inside, and I am super pleased. I’ve got a few more presents to make and I’m going to stick with this pattern. I think I’ll make the handles 2 inches longer, it was a little tight going over my shoulder (but not a 4 year olds…and she LOVED it!).  And in case your were wondering the pattern was fantastic, the directions were a breeze and it was a really fast sew.  It’s a great shape that’s super versatile.  I’m making a wool one next. (stay tuned for pictures)

The party was fun. It’s the first time we actually got in the car and Iz said, “Mom! I had a lot of fun!”. She pretty much always has fun, but it’s the first time she’s said it without me prompting.

Lui led the drumming. Iz was pretty pleased to see her. (she always is)

We spent time jumping off the bench, sliding tummy side down, head first down the slide. Oh the outdoors.

The day before, it was sweltering. It was so hot, none of us could get comfortable. We spent the morning in Northampton picking up the last of the LuckyStitches furniture at the kung fu studio, then dropping it off at the new location. It was hot. We left Haydenville, on our way to Ashfield for the Fall Festival. The drive on 112 is pretty breathtaking. I think the drive anywhere in New England is pretty amazing. The leaves are changing colors, looks like the trees are catching on fire, but not fully inflamed.

This year was different, Iz is more independent, wants to do so many things on her own. There is no casual strolling, but more following, running and insisting on hand holding when the crowds get to thick or the walk gets too close to the road.

Our little kitty had fun, she got to ring the bell, act like a kitty and see tons of her friends (that’s a funny thing about living where we do, we get to see our friends every where we go, not like the subway, where you barely recognize people from day to day).

We had to leave, it was too hot and too close to nap time. After a bowl of mac & cheese, we headed for the car. But it never goes as smooth as that. The power of distraction is key to happiness sometimes, and Iz was thrown into the air with every step, Rob got a great upper body workout, and she happily got into the car, where after we got going, she fell asleep.

It was a really great and productive weekend. The roof is almost finished. I made a lovely bag, and Iz got to spend both days outside playing and playing. And she got to hold Annabelle.

I, myself, can barely stand it! I love it so much. It was super hard to part with it today, as it went to school with Iz, where she would be using it during her nap time during her FIRST FULL DAY of school. She’ll be home any minute (a friend is picking her up – our car wouldn’t start yesterday, and we were stranded in town. I tried calling Rob, but where he was working, there was no signal. I called this friend, who was home with a sleeping baby, this friend – who was at the dentist’s office with son, and more and more friends, who of course were not home waiting by the phone for my distress call. Poor little Iz, she started crying after the first few tries of me starting the car and it not starting, and her dad not answering his phone (I promise you there was no foul language when his phone went straight to voicemail – grin) and wanted to know between tears how she would get home to take a nap, and that she didn’t want me, she wanted her daddy, daddy, please answer the phone! Rob finally called and came to our rescue. He checked under the hood, and couldn’t see anything. I called our mechanic, such a great guy! First – he wanted to make sure I was ok, and if I needed a ride. He could give me a ride right away, but the tow would be at the end of the day. Rob drove us home and we dropped the keys with the mechanic. I spoke to him this morning, it was the battery, I now have a new battery, and everything is ok…).

Anyway… It was a strange day for me. I looked at another space for LuckyStitches, which is quite perfect. Much less expensive and I won’t have to set-up and break-down, which was starting to get old. Once I was home, I just didn’t know what to do first. Tons to do, and now all day to do it? I found my groove, and cleaned and organized and actually got quite a few little things done. A little after lunch, I realized that I really missed Iz! Would she nap ok? (she did, fell asleep fast…why does that happen so well for other people? Although I do love our cuddly time while she dozes off…). Would she melt down because the day was too long? Would she, would she would she? Of course, everything was great. She ate her lunch and her snacks. She fell asleep like all the other kids, and slept so long, she had to be gently woken up. She asked me if she could nap at school every day with her special quilt. (update: Iz could not fall asleep at night. Was she overtired from her first long day? Was she completely thrown off by napping elsewhere and having to be woken up? It took almost 3 hours of crying, backrubbing, crying, screaming, back rubbing, reading, screaming, crying, before she finally fell asleep. AND she was up at 6am. She is exhausted, and when I took her to school the next day, she wanted to stay all day, with me there too. We’ll see how she is in a few hours…)

I’ve gotten a few emails asking me how I made this quilt – so here’s how I did it. I have been sewing for over 30 years (but I’m only 16! how is this possible?). So I do know how to sew, but I think this is so easy, anybody can do it! If you are new to sewing, or just want to practice before you dive in and invest in materials (this can be an expensive hobby….), try making a doll quilt – say 24×28? And see what happens. And apologies for not documenting with more photos. I’ll do that with my next quilting project. I was just too excited and didn’t stop to take photos.

I didn’t refer to any books, or websites, but did ask questions.  Valley Fabrics really helped me with this, and without them, it would have taken me much longer to figure out.  If anyone knows of a great basic quilting book or websites, post them in the comments so people can find them.

Steps:
1. Draw a picture of your quilt and figure out the size you want. I wanted about a 50×53 quilt. Big enough for my daughter to lie down on, and big enough to wrap up in.

2. I then went to the fabric store and picked 10 prints that I thought I would like together. I also went to the fabric store with colors in mind, so I brought some inspiration with me – a cloth swim diaper. But you could bring a photo or a picture. I wanted red and aqua. I like how my quilt turned out, but I wish it were more red and aqua, I strayed with too much yellow – but I love it anyway.

3. So – based on my print choices (the more you have, the more interesting and varied the quilt…), and the size of my quilt AND the width of the fabric, I figured I needed 1/2 yards of each print, cutting 7×7 squares (BUT – I am making TWO! – so half of that if you are making one, but you won’t fit the same amount of squares in 1/4 yard as you would a 1/2 yard, might have better luck with fat quarters if you are doing 1/4 yards) – sketch them out with a grid and see how many squares you get. The thing to do is not waste fabric, so your square size needs to be efficient. I liked working with the 7″ squares. I love little squares but that is a lot of cutting and sewing and I didn’t want to get discouraged.

4. I then took everything home and put it in the washer. I iron my fabric dry, it helps to keep the wrinkles to a minimum, but you can dry them too (better so they will shrink). But make sure you iron everything as flat as possible, wrinkles will change everything.

5. I invested in a rotary cutter and self healing mat, and one of those big quilting rulers (not sure what they are exactly called…). Best $$ ever spent, it makes measuring and cutting a breeze. I cut several layers at once, and it worked out well.

6. After everything was cut, I wanted a really random layout, so first I mixed up my piles of swatches, then I placed them all on my bed 7 rows by 8 rows. Once I had it all laid out, I moved a block or two. I don’t have a space to leave these out (you can use a flannel sheet and they will stick to the flannel – you can hang it on the wall and they shouldn’t fall off). I pinned each row together, keeping tops up. In the upper left hand corner I pinned a label, A, B, C, D… so I could remember the order. I put my pile in order with A on top.

7. I used hot pink thread to sew my quilt together. I read somewhere that you should use 100% cotton for baby quilts, because you wash them a lot, but I only had mercerized thread on hand, and the quilt shop said that would work fine. I took two squares, and put right sides toghether. The seam allowance is 1/4″, or the edge of your presser foot, so I lined up the edge of my presser foot with the right edge of my two squares and just stitched with a straight stitch. DO NOT CLIP YOUR ENDS. Because we don’t back tac (too much bulk)- the stitching won’t be secured until the quilt is finished, so don’t clip your long threads. I opened up my two squares, picked up the next block in the row, and with right sides together sewed the next block down (basically, you are sewing the row together, then once all the rows are sewn, you will sew the long rows together – making the quilt top!). Once each row is finished, I pin the appropriate label in the top left corner and press all my seams open.

8. So, once all the rows are sewn together, I sew the long rows together. Press seams open when you are done.

9. Now your quilt top should be done, so measure it. You will need batting (100% cotton only, best for babies and washes well)), backing and a binding. The batting and backing should extend at least 2″ on every side bigger than the quilt top. I ended up piecing my backing, so just make a sketch and see what you like. I took the width of the fabric by the length of my quilt for the center, then pieced top, bottom, and side borders – like a frame. The top and bottom are the same length as the center panel (the width of the fabric) and the sides are as tall as the quilt (top, center and bottom).

12. I decided to quilt (on my machine) just a regular window pane through the middle of my blocks (so it appears that I pieced a lot more than I did). I pin basted the whole thing. There has to be a better way than what I did. I pinned 3-4 pins on every block seam. You do this to prevent shifting and fabric moving. Then I started on one end and stitched down the row, top to bottom. I then rolled the quilt (so it will fit in my machine) and did the next row down the center of the blocks. Out of habit, I always sew in the same direction, this prevents twisting of fabric when you sew. So, if pick a direction and stick with it. When I was done with the length, I turned the quilt and did the width. I did get some puckering (which makes me crazy, but I know my daughter won’t mind .

11. Next is the binding. I like to make bias tape (call me crazy..), so 1/2 a yard makes enough bias tape for this size quilt – with some left over. I used a 25mm bias tape maker and cut 2″ wide bias strips. There are other ways to do this. You can make straight tape – there are sources on-line or maybe a quilting friend can help…

12. I pinned my binding to the front of the quilt, then stitched it down to the front. I folded it over the edge and hand stitched it down.

I didn’t use a special foot, but I did use 2 new needles. One to sew the blocks together and one to quilt with. Use a heavier needle for the quilting and make your stitches a little longer and lighten up on the tension, or the batting will pull through. The sharp needles make it much easier to sew.

I am really looking forward to making another quilt.  This was so much fun, and I love that I have made something for my daughter that she will have forever.  I do need to “sign” the quilt, so I’m going to make a little patch and applique it on somewhere.  Pictures of that – later.

I love my handy dandy rotary cutter and self healing mat. They are so wonderful. I could not imagine cutting 150 or so 7″ squares with scissors. Cutting is not my favorite thing (although Iz loves using her ladybug scissors – and is quite good at it too!). I think that if I couldn’t have cut these out quickly with my rotary cutter, the fabric you see above, would have turned into skirts (not a bad thing!). Surprisingly, Iz sat quietly on the floor of my studio while I cut these out. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. Maybe because she knows all of this is for her (well half – the other is for a future cousin)? Thinking back to it, she was so content. Is this a step towards more independence for both of us?

I was so excited, I didn’t take a photo of all the cut squares. They sure did look nice though.

I wanted a really random layout. One quilt needs to be done by next Monday (Iz will need it Tuesday morning), so I have been really excited to get started and finish! Rob (my wonderful creative husband), wanted to help out. We’ve been trying to spend our evenings working together and not in front of the television, but rather reading books, working on our projects, helping each other. It’s much nicer than turning into a vegetable at night. He suggested mixing up the swatches before laying out the quilts. It’s what he does when he does his tiling. So, away we went. It made it really easy to lay out each quilt. 7 squares by 8 rows. Once we finished I only rearranged 1 or 2 (can’t help it, too much training…). Then, how to mark them? I didn’t have a place big enough to keep them out in their order, no flannel sheet or sticky board to keep them in order. So I tagged each row. 1a, 1b, 1c and so on. Pinned in the upper left corner. EASY! So easy to take each pile and sew a row. Then sew the rows together. This is what one of them looks like:

I love how the back looks. Maybe an idea for another type of quilt? Have to research that…

Anyway – each top took me about an hour to piece together. Not bad. I was a little worried that they would take me longer, and I only have a week to finish. Iz really likes them. “Is that mine mama? Can I make a quilt too?” There is something wonderfully satisfying about making things for your children.

I love the size of the quilt and I don’t think I’m going to add a border. I think I’ll bind it (I’m leaning towards a green binding of some sort) and I think the back of the quilt will be some sort of orange. Although, I am a bit worried about the dirt factor – maybe something darker? I’m off to Valley Fabrics again tomorrow to find the backing, get the batting and find the fabric for the binding. I’m planning on machine quilting this, and can anybody tell me – Do I need a special foot for my sewing machine? or can I use the standard one? I was also thinking about rounding the corners, instead of leaving them square. I am planning on a bias binding. Any advice?

ps – This is my first quilt. I have dreamed of making quilts since I think about the 4th grade. A friends mother tried to get me started, but instead of cutting squares, she had me cut tons of triangles. She lost me there. Then, in high school, I had a self portrait project (I wish I could find it). I painted a lifesize me on fabric, then cut it up into squares and mixed it with other squares of fabric. Kind of a quilt, but I didn’t consider it a quilt then.

I don’t know what it is , but I’ve been dreaming about aqua and red lately, and lucky me had a bit in my stash to make Iz this skirt. She loves it. I love it. I think the next skirt I make will use twice as much tulle. I pictured it differently, more full or intense.

But this red and aqua thing has been on my mind for a while – you can tell from my Flickr favorites (click on the photo to go to Flickr and learn more about each photo).

I’ve got a few gifty things coming up and for the longest time I was struggling with color ideas, but I think aqua and red are really fresh and could be fun for little ones I’m thinking of.