A Return!

Did anyone else have a crazy November? I don't know what happened to that whole month. It seems like I had an event of some sort planned every weekend and the time just flew right on by...

I was also participating in National Novel Writing Month. I've participated a few times now and won 3 of those. If you're not familiar with NaNoWriMo, "winning" means I wrote 50,000 words or more in 30 days. It's a lot. At the end of it I have a big, messy pile of words that will need to be heavily edited and rewritten before they really become anything, but it's a start.  I did pretty good about writing in college, but when your grades depend upon whether or not you finish a poem or short story for workshop the next day, it's much easier to stay motivated. So I have been working this year on taking my writing more seriously and trying to develop daily habits instead of doing a mad dash once a year and then forgetting about it.

But somehow, I also had time for some crafts. Here's a short rundown.

I FINALLY finished this beast of a quilt last night. This picture shows how much I had left when I ran out of bobbin thread. OF COURSE. You may remember me starting this... in March of 2014! I know. It's shameful how long this has been in progress. Especially considering this was supposed to be a gift for my now-husband in 2014. But this is the year! It will finally be finished!

I know this picture sucks, but this hat was a gift and I sent it off before I took any decent pictures. Sorry! But this is a Vermonter made up in Manos Franca yarn. It is lovely and soft and the colors are just gorgeous. I had to make some changes to the pattern to get it to fit, which you can find on my Ravelry page if you're interested. I made this for a friend who lives in a much colder area than me. She's been going through some hard stuff, so I sent her a bit of warmth. Like you do.

And this little beauty is my first Hermione Everyday Sock! The other one is almost done. I've turned the heel, made the gusset, and now I just need to knit the foot. It got put on hold in favor of the Vermonter, but I will be returning to it soon!

There has been more stuff, but this is a little sampling. I plan to return to this space more often to share, so keep an eye out :)

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

Healed and back in action!

Technically, I've been okay since about the last week of July. Technically. But there was so much knitting and sewing to catch up on that I've only just sat down now to tell you about it!

Let's see. First, I finished my blocks for Sarah of Sew What Sherlock. You *may* remember we started a bee a loooong time ago. But life got in the way for several of our members and so things fell by the wayside for a bit. But we're gathering momentum once again that will hopefully see us through to the end!

Sarah's quilt is going to have a bunch of paper pieced arrows (the pattern is her own design and available for purchase) with low volume background blocks with a variety of shapes and patterns.

The whole this is very scrappy. It's going to be so lovely when it's all put together! Above are my background contributions.

 A shot of the arrows in their entirety. Please excuse the feet ;)

And a sort of close up of my favorite block. I just love pinwheels.

I've been working on other stuff, too. Photos to come soooon! :D It feels so good to have 2 working arms again, I can't tell you...

A Finished Quilt!

Yes, you read that right! I finished a quilt!

I made this on commission for a customer through my Etsy store. I don't really sell quilts there anymore- I'd like to focus on knitting/crochet accessories- but this customer bought a quilt from me last year and asked if I would be willing to make another. So of course I said yes!

I really love how this quilt turned out. I drew up the pattern myself, but it's fairly simple. I star in the center with flying geese radiating out from it on a background of low volume squares. It measures about 60" x 60" and I quilted it with an all over meander (for speed, mostly, but I just love the way this quilting pattern crinkles after it's washed!). I love it so much I'm just a little sad it's already sold. Maybe I'll have to make one for myself?

As much as I love this quilt and as much fun that I had making it, I am glad that it's done! I have a couple of plans for more bags and maybe even a needle case and hook case for the shop that I want to get working on. Now I can start focusing on those :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Around the World Blog Hop

So. The lovely and talented Audrey of Hot Pink Quilts tagged me to join this crazy chain of bloggers answering questions about themselves. I'm really not sure where this started, but it's so fun to see how many people are participating! Seriously, just google Around the World Blog Hop and maybe add quilting and tons of results will pop up! Isn't it amazing just how many of us are tied together in this online quilting and sewing community? I think so! So without further ado...

1.      What am I working on?

The Catvent Quilt Along top from last Christmas... Yeah. It's still just a top.

Mario's quilt also really needs quilting. I still don't even have a backing for it. Definitely need to finish this by Christmas.

Nothing major right now. I have 2 quilt tops I need to finish and turn into quilts. Aiming for the end of the year on those. I've also been working on making more clothes for myself, so expect to see more posts about that in the future. Really, right now I'm coming down from a month of intense, deadline-driven sewing, so I'm taking it a little easy. Just sewing what I want to sew, catching up on bee blocks, and planning for the future. So far, I am enjoying September very much!

Some leggings I finished this week.

2.      How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Hmmm. That's a tough one. I have a tendency to do what I want and not care about things like what the pattern tells me to do or worrying about trendy color combos. I try to just make what makes me happy (or what will make the intended recipient happy!) and not worry about anything else. I don't know if that really makes what I do different, but it definitely makes me happy!

Swoon blocks... still waiting to be sewn together...

Mother Day Dumpling bags

3.      Why do I write/create what I do?

I create to fill a need. I don't do well with idleness and I find I am the calmest and most satisfied with my life when I am actively working on creating something. What I create can vary widely- I love crafts of all kinds, but I also love writing. Little known fact about me- I studied English and Creative Writing in my undergrad career with an emphasis in poetry. And those poetry workshops were the best classes I took in college. I've loved writing since I was really young. I still have the first book I ever wrote, laminated and spiral bound for the Young Authors program in Washington. Lately my writing hasn't been so regular, but I'm working on that!

So I guess long story short, I create because I love it, because I need to, because it's fun and fulfilling in a way that nothing else is. 

A wonky wedding quilt I made for a friend

 4.      How does my writing/creating process work?

I think this one is even harder because it really isn't a standard thing. Sometimes I have an idea that I need to make or write RIGHT NOW or the WORLD WILL END. And I get started as soon as I possibly can, taking breaks only for my day job and sleep. But sometimes I have no idea what I want to do, so I just wander around my sewing room or doodle in my journal until I figure something out. Sometimes I work on something a little at a time, sometimes I focus on one thing to completion, sometimes I jump around from project to project. I guess my creative process is just really flexible and sometimes unpredictable. Which suits me just fine.

So now it's my turn. I suppose I will get the other ladies of the Fierce Quilters Bee in on this action- Kitty, Allison, and Sarah. TELL ME STUFF, GUYS. :D

The Wedding Quilt

Okay, guys, I finally have something awesome to show you. Are you ready? Let's pretend I took really awesome pictures and wasn't totally rushing 10 minutes before I had to get ready to leave, okay??

BAM. Star in a star in a star, self-drafted pattern. Then I added the fun border to make it a little bigger. It finished at about 85x85.

Look, a slightly different angle! I couldn't stand back far enough to get a straight on shot of the whole thing without the sun glaring off the camera lens... *sigh*

See the glare?? And I was standing pretty close! I don't know if you can see it, but I quilted it with an all-over FMQ stipple. I need to start getting braver with my FMQ, man. I'm getting a little tired of the stipple!

This quilt was for my future sister-in-law's wedding, so it was very special! She also happens to be one of my best friends who I have know almost 10 years. I introduced her to her now husband, who I had known for several years, just about two and a half years ago. They're such a great couple! Their wedding was lovely and fun and everything a wedding is supposed to be :) And the quilt was well received!

Here are some progress shots of the quilt, just for funsies:

I also made the bridesmaid dresses- I will post pictures of those AND the awesome bathing suit I made for our little vacation following the wedding next week! August was a super busy sewing month, even though I didn't blog almost at all. But now I have plenty of fodder to keep this space busy for a couple of weeks! Stay tuned!

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Busy, busy, busy!

Just wanted to drop in and say hi!

I've been spending most of my free time frantically sewing things for the upcoming wedding. I haven't had much time to think about other fun things like blogging or my Etsy store or, you know, anything! I promise a full reveal post for the wedding quilt and the bridesmaid dresses, but here are some previews from Instagram:

Please excuse the messy surroundings. We have not yet decided on a home for our records... Also, this one is a little big on top because it is for one of the *ahem* bustier bridesmaids. But I was so excited to finish it that I had to get a picture!

Infinity dresses are the best! We're going to look so fierce! (And don't worry, I won't be wearing a bra that shows to the actual event!)

Here is the center of the quilt. It is actually almost done now! I finished the top last weekend and started quilting this week. I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend and then figure out something awesome for a label :D

How has August been for the rest of you? My energy is flagging for sure. Looking forward to September!

In Which an Apology is Offered...

For not taking proper photos. Again... I finished my mini quilt for round two of the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap, sent it off, and it has been received! But I didn't take anything but phone pictures.

And so I hang my head in shame and offer you these...

 

Here it is all ready to send! I sent along a washi-papered tin full of loose tea from Teavana, some Saltwater scraps, and (not pictured) dark chocolate truffles and some thread. 

Here it is not quite finished. I added little "ghost" geese to the corners on the suggestion of some Instagram people :)

And what I received in return!

Elizabeth (@epearlp on instagram) really spoiled me! I got some tea, Skittles, thread, cute little scissors, some wonder clips (which are the best thing ever), bakers twine, scraps, a couple of zippers, and fabric glue! WOW! All of that stuffed into a really cute little zipper pouch :) I love my mini quilt! I still haven't decided where to hang it up yet. My walls are totally blank so you'd think it would be easy! There are just too many options... BUT! When I finally do get it hung up, I will take real pictures for you, promise :)

And don't think I've forgotten that clutch tutorial I promised you! I've been working on it. It has been a bit of a comedy of errors... I scorched some fabric (for the FIRST TIME EVER, of course), cut things wrong, sewed things wrong, and generally made a mess of things. Which is funny because all of the other ones I've made so far have gone perfectly! It's just because I'm trying to take pictures, I think ;)

I have been making a few extra clutches and things and decided to start listing them on Etsy. The Crooked Banana is officially open for business. There isn't much in there. Really it's just a way of supplementing my crafting budget, which is far too small for my liking right now! Go check it out if you feel like it :)

Admitting Defeat

You remember Scrappy Chevrons, right? How excited I was to finally have the enormous top finished! But I have hit a wall with it...

This is where I am today. I tried to do some simple FMQ loops with is. I love the texture it gives and really wanted that for this quilt. But it turns out that free motion quilting a queen sized quilt is really, really not going to happen on my machine. It hurt my arms too much, my stitches were extremely uneven because it was so hard to muscle all that bulk around. And really, toward the middle of the quilt I could hardly fit the bulk through the throat space, let alone with room for one of my arms to keep maneuvering.

So. Lesson learned. I spent a good 3 hours on this and only got about 1/8 of the way finished. There was no way I was going to go through another 21 hours of that torture! So I am ripping it all out and will be going with some nice straight lines instead. And starting to save for a machine with much more ample throat space!

I'm linking up to Sewjo Saturday over at My Go-Go Life! Mostly to cheer me up about having to rip out all my quilting by looking at the other pretty projects people have been working on.

In Progress

Hello again!

Last week I took a little hiatus from sewing and crafting. It was the most stressful week at work and in response, I decided to do nothing at all that resembled work when I got home. I lounged. I read. I wrote in my journal. Watched movies. Played video games. But I did not work on anything. I think it was good for my mental health last week. I might have seriously broken down in tears if I had to get out my seam ripper for any reason. And my projects don't deserve that.

But! I'm back now. Things are much better, stress is much lower, and it has been an all around much better week so far. So here's what I'm currently working on.

I couldn't take all the cuteness around the blogging world and instagram anymore. I decided to take up cross stitch. I bought this pattern from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and my supplies from the Workroom, and I'm off! It doesn't quite look like bacon and eggs yet, but I'll get there. In the background you can see my rainbow ripple blanket. It is still getting steady (if slightly sporadic) attention, too.

Quilting has also begun on the scrappy chevron quilt! This quilt is huuuuge. It makes my arms sore after not very much time, so I have just been slowly chipping away at it. Hoping to finish the simple loopy quilting this weekend.

And that's about it around here! It's good to be back in a sane, happy place. What are you working on?

Linking up to WiP Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

Progress!

Well kids, it's Wednesday. Shall we see what kind of progress I've made this past week?

Quilting of the Low Volume Pinwheels quilt has begun:

I am keeping it simple with this quilt. Just straight lines on either side of the seams in the pinwheel and 4 patch blocks. I am halfway done- I have quilted all the lines going one direction. Hoping to finish this up this weekend if I can decide on a binding!

I have also been working on a scarf for a friend.

It's a Hufflepuff scarf! I'm knitting it in the round so it's nice and thick and looks nice on both sides. It is slow going this way, but I love the way it's turning out!

So that's what I've been up to this week. How about you?

Linking up to WiP Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced and Keep Calm and Craft On at Frontier Dreams!

Looooong Week

And by that I mean last week. But if how today went is any indication, I have another long week ahead of me...

I did make some progress, though. I have been boycotting my sewing room a little bit due to the heat. I am just SICK of it. I love rain, but when it is 103 with 60+% humidity, my house is just miserable. And my sewing room is an addition that is poorly insulated, so it is even more miserable. I'm just tired of sweating while I quilt... You can understand that, right?

So I finished one more Swoon block:

A bit on the dark side for a picture, but I was sick of trying to remember to get Mario to help me in the last moments of daylight when I get off work... Someday I WILL have a new sewing room and it WILL have lots of natural light. I just have to be patient!

And I *finally* started quilting the wonky triangles quilt (I really can't decide what to call it!).

It is definitely work to wrestle the quilt through, but I'm managing. Somehow. Someday I will also have a drop-in sewing table and a machine with a nice, big throat. Or maybe a long arm. Someday! But for now, I make my slow progress. After about an hour my shoulders start screaming and I start overheating, so this might take a while!

I have more things to show you this week! I have to show off my awesome swappy presents from the talented Kitty and Allison. They are the BEST and their swap items were just PERFECT. So I want to take pictures that at least do them some justice. Soon! I didn't even take pictures of the stuff I made- I definitely fail!

Anyway, hope you are all having a less stressful, crazy week than I'm having. I need a cup of tea and a good book tonight for sure. Maybe iced tea.

Let's Get Acquainted

I mentioned before that I will be participating in the 2013 Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop, organized by Beth at Plum and June.

Well it kicks off this week! Go check out these awesome new bloggers who are posting this week:

Friday, June 7
Nancy @ Owen's Olivia

Amy @ 13 Spools

Ashley @ Wasn't Quilt In A Day

Casey @ The Studiolo 

Nanette @ Yeah, I Made That

Ange @ Heart Of Charnwood

Kim @ Robot Mom Sews

Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting

And for the rest of the hop:

Friday, June 14
Julie @ Jolie Maxtin

Melissa @ Melia Mae Quilting

Adrianne @ On The Windy Side

Molli @ Molli Sparkles

Laura @ Little And Lots

Sarah @ Duck Egg Threads

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Cari @ There's A Thread

Valerie @ Between Quilts

Friday, June 21

Leigh Anne @ Ella's Cottage

Stacy @ The Tilted Quilt

Sarah @ Quilt Candy

Jackie @ NW Patchwork

Liz @ Beadqueene's Bits And Baubles

Erica @ Happy Fabric

Stephanie @ Simple Sewendipity

Lauren @ Seraphym

Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts

Friday, June 28

Green @ So Sew Green

Gwendellyn @ The Rainbow Revolts

Jessica @ Stitched In Thyme

Amira @ Little Mushroom Cap

Kathy @ Kayak Quilting

Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts

Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

Kris @ Sew Sunshine

Camilla @ Faffling

Friday, July 5

Christa @ Christa Quilts!

Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce

Anna (ME!!) @ The Crooked Banana

Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After 

Stephanie @ Quarter Incher

Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs

Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness

Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works

Friday, July 12

Leona @ Leona's Quilting Adventure

Karen @ Karen, {Novice} Quilter

Anne @ PlayCrafts

Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...

Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm

Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain

Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Sarah @ {No} Hats In The House

Friday, July 19

Karen @ Little Birdie Quilting Studio

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures

Katie @ Snuggle Up With A Dish From Karma 

Alison @ Making Happyness

Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room

Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

Nicole @ Modern Handcraft

Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya

Kelsey and Amanda @ Everyday Fray

Friday, July 26

Vicki @ A Quilter's Mission

RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts

Elisa Lea @ Lovelea Designs

Elizabeth @ In The Boondocks

Jenny @ A Note To Follow Sew

Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts

Sonia @ Fabric & Flowers

Emily @ Sew E.T.

I'll post the week's schedule every Monday so you can keep up. Go support these new bloggers! :)

In other news, I now have over 50 6.5" stitch and flip blocks completed.

You can see the disaster that is my craft table in the background. I just have a huge pile of scraps so I can grab a couple at random as I make the blocks. Looks messy, but makes block making go by fast!

It seemed like most people liked the first layout in my last post, so here is a slightly larger preview of that.

I love it so much! It has the sort of weird hexagon start things that I was rather fond of in one of the other layouts, but it also radiates from the center, which breaks up that pattern a bit. Best of both worlds, right? I am so excited for this quilt. Just 90 more blocks to go until it is will be the size I want! Yay!

That's basically all I have been working on. Well. I did start a new pair of socks. I sort of messed up the first one, though, so I may rip a few rows down and re-do it. We'll see!

Recovering!

Wow, what a crazy week! It was my first week at my new job and it was busy. Training and tours and paperwork and soooo many introductions and a bazillion other things. It was a long week. And yet, somehow, I managed to get a few little things done!

First, I made these cute new pot holders for myself. I decided to use the March Sister's Ten blocks so I would be catching up on that and making something useful. I really love how they turned out.

I used the same binding technique as my scrappy trip quilt, but I think I did much better on the quilt! I don't know why this was so much harder for me. Maybe because these were thicker than the quilt. Oh well. I still love them :) I added a pocket on the back, too. I have discovered I like that style of pot holder.

I also made this cute little zipper pouch wristlet for work! After the first two days I decided I really needed something little to carry around my phone, a pen, maybe a couple sticks of gum, and my keys while I am away from my desk. Girl pants are just not conducive to holding so much in my pockets. So I made this:

That second picture ended up really bright, huh? Oops! But it is just the right size to carry around all the little things I need from meeting to meeting without filling up my tiny pockets. It was also a very satisfying finish because it only took about an hour start to finish! I will definitely be making more of these types of things. Maybe next time I'll use an actual tutorial, though ;) I would like pointier corners.

And finally, I caught up on my bee blocks with this guy.

I just love how it turned out! So bright and happy :) I am also super proud of how pointy all my points are and how well they line up! I think this is my best bee block yet! I am definitely getting better. I will be getting this guy in the mail sometime this week.

I am still adjusting to my new schedule. Definitely not used to working full time anymore. But it has been good getting out of the house every day. And now I know I can still make time for sewing, even if it is just little things this week :) I hope to catch up on my skill builder blocks this weekend. Well, at least the March blocks. The April ones are hexies and another one that requires templates and things. I totally forgot to buy mine, so they are definitely going to be late. Oh well.

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend! I am going to go take a cake out of the oven- YUM.

Scrappy Trip Along Quilt- Finished!!

So I achieved my goal of finishing my Scrappy Trips quilt before I started my big girl job- I even had almost a whole week to spare! I'm getting pretty good at cranking out a quilt in a couple of weeks ;) I bet it will be much harder with a full time job, though.

I wanted to get some pretty photos because I really LOVE this quilt. It needed something more special than the oil-spotted rocks in my front yard (hazards of living with a "car guy"). So I took it to the Poetry Center. I've mentioned the Poetry Center before, right? It's where I did my internship last fall, where I spent a lot of time as a poetry-writing and studying undergrad, and it's where I've been volunteering for the past few weeks. I love the Poetry Center. It's a really fantastic place for so many reasons. The staff is absolutely wonderful. They have an enormous collection of poetry, including some really rare small run books and some awesome one of a kind artist books. They also have a huge photo collection featuring poets from the very famous (Alice Walker) to the very obscure (The Dark Bob).  If you live near or in Tucson and like poetry at all, you should visit this excellent facility. Or you know, if you just want a quiet, comfortable place to read or knit. They have the best furniture.

But you came for the quilt, so I'll shut up and show you some pictures.

You can see some of the shelves in this picture. So much poetry! And this couch? So comfy.

This might be my favorite part of the Poetry Center, though- the garden. Shaded and quiet with a little fountain for atmosphere. Great place to read or contemplate the poem you were supposed to write last week that is due in an hour ;)

I really love this quilt from every angle. All those little squares playing so happily together... I went with a neutral binding in Kona Ash so as not to detract from all the pretty fabrics in the top. I really love how it turned out! I even used a new binding method, courtesy of Red Pepper Quilts. It isn't perfect, but I think it will look much better with more practice!

My favorite part. Well, I don't know if it's my favorite, exactly, but the back is pretty fantastic. I didn't have enough of any one fabric for the backing, so I decided to piece it together from solids and near solids, most of which were also used on the front. Then, because I had a few "tubes" left with enough fabric on them for one more cutting of squares that I decided to put a nice stripe down the middle. I LOVE that it turned out exactly like I imagined it! It adds something special to the already super special quilt. I almost wish I had made it big enough for my bed just so I could sleep under this magnificence, but then I don't think my backing would have worked out so perfectly.

See all the happy little squares? Eee! Love :) You can see how I quilted it here, too- an on-point grid in every other row. I didn't want to do every row for two reasons- 1. I didn't want the quilting to be too dense and 2. I wanted the lines to meet at the corners rather than in the middle of the squares. I'm glad I went with it!

So, there you have it. Another finished quilt for me! :) Yay! I have no money at all for fabric right now or I'd probably be starting another... I guess I have no excuses now not to catch up on my bee and BOM blocks, huh? ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Another Little Finish!

So yesterday I posted about this:

My first ever bee block! It was very exciting, of course. I thought it was going to be the only thing I got done this week, too, so I went ahead and prematurely linked to Finish it Up Friday.

But then I decided at the absolute last minute that I NEEDED a drawstring bag to put Mario's little gifts in. See, we agreed not to buy each other anything because we're both pretty broke until our new jobs start. But I did go out and buy a bit of candy and wrote a little note... I may or may not have cut out hearts from some pink paper. It was fun. I needed to put them in something, right? So I made this:

A cute little drawstring pouch using the tutorial from Jeni at In Color Order. It was such a great, easy tutorial! I only had an hour and a half to get it done before Mario came home from work and I was able to choose fabric, iron it, cut it out, and finish the bag with a few minutes to spare! The only problem was that I didn't have any ribbon and I definitely didn't have time to make the ribbon out of fabric... So I used yarn. It's pretty ugly so I hid it for the picture ;) But I plan on getting some red ribbon to replace it. I am rather fond of the fabric I used. Two moose for the sort of focal point! How perfect is that? Moose are kind of a thing with us so I just HAD to fussy cut the fabric to put them in the center. I like it because it's Valentine's-y without being pink and girly. PERFECT. And he loved it, so even more perfect!

I actually got a lot more sewing done yesterday than I thought I would. After dinner and dessert (a delicious chocolate stout cake- from where else but Smitten Kitchen?) and a movie, Mario had a lot of paperwork to get started on. So I practiced some FMQ:

Found a use for the "irregular" squares from my Hounds Tooth quilt!

I know it's hard to see the white thread in the off-white fabric, but the upper left is swirls and the lower right is pebbles. I actually did a lot better on the pebbles on the white than the purple.

Still needs work, but I feel much better about actually quilting my Skill Builder blocks! I hope to get them both done this weekend so I can start on this month's blocks!

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!