poppy pouch

Another gift for the generous Poppy.

I spotted this ribbon at the Portsmouth Fabric Company. Check them out online or in person. It's one of the best fabric stores I've been in. When I told them this was to be a gift, they offered me the use of their sewing machines since I was on vacation. I passed due to time constraints, and it's a good thing I didn't know I'd have access to a machine ahead of time.

Once I had to have the ribbon I needed to search for some coordinating fabric. These are from the Kaffe Fassett collection.

The pattern was based on one of my Vera Bradley cosmetic bags. To make it a little easier I quilted the exterior fabric on fusible fleece. The zipper pull is made of beads from my stash.

cushion for a cottage

A thank you gift for a generous hostess, who loaned us her lovely cottage for our vacation-

I'd intended to sew this up before we left and was going to leave it there for her to find when she arrived. The storms that knocked out our power before we left changed my plan.

The hankie was in my stash of vintage linens. Can you believe something so perfect was right here? I added a solid pink fabric and white piping from the stash as well.

After several attempts at putting the hankie on with monofilament thread and the machine, I gave up. The fabric was too delicate and it kept bunching up. I also wasn't happy with either a zig zag over the scallops or a straight line inside of them. The best solution was a simple whipstitch by hand with the monofilament. It's almost impossible to see how the hankie is attached and I was able to follow the scallops exactly.

Sadly, our hostess' time at the cottage is done for the summer. I think it might look cute on a screened-in suburban porch though.

grandmother's wildflowers

The baby hexies are finished! I know I said I would post this well over a month ago. Lets just say I severely underestimated the time it would take, and the time I would have available, to finish it.

"Grandmother's Wildflowers" is a take on the traditional grandmother's flower garden quilt pattern. While the technique and all the handwork I did was traditional, the open spaces aren't. I was inspired by a quilt in "Pretty Little Quilts" that had individual hexagons missing allowing the wall to show through.

I have one of my fellow quilting friends here in town to thank for the arrangement. I played back and forth with several ideas, even several different layouts, when Kathy sat down and began moving them in more of a color order arrangement. Bingo! A few minutes later I had them grouped the way I liked. I debated a bit about whether I should add a few more, but decided I'd stick with what I had.

All of these hexies are vintage fabrics that were precut and strung by an anonymous quilter years ago. Like the rest of us, she seems to have had a few UFO's in her stash. I bought them at the garage sale and can now consider them vintage project number 2 that's been completed from that huge find. (The first was the string quilt blocks.)

Every stitch in this mini quilt was done by hand - from basting the hexagons over paper, to the stitches joining the backing to the top. The back is a vintage feedsack. I would not use a feedsack again for a project of this type. The weave is too loose and I had to put in twice as many stitches to secure every loose thread in the weave as I finished the project. The quilt is tied in the center of each hexagon with matching embroidery floss.

And here's a quick shot of my next vintage UFO. More handwork, so it'll be a long time before I can post a finished quilt for this one. I have twelve of these dresden plates to applique to blocks. The long drive to New Hampshire a few weeks ago took care of 3 of them.

Step by step...

love of learning

June. End of another school year. Hard to believe.

In the whirlwind that has been the last two weeks, I realized my youngest will no longer be a preschooler. She's had the most wonderful two years at a local Montessori school and I wanted to give them a little something to remember her by.

The design is based on the school's logo - a trinomial square. The quilting is minimal - just 1/4 inch on either side of the seams to start with. I added the heart beacause of how much Trixie loved school. Above the heart, the school's initials are quilted in lowercase script. Though you can't see it in the photo, the numbers 1, 2, 3 are quilted to the right of the heart in the rulers. Some of the fabric is from the American Jane collection, though if you have it, you may notice that in the fabric you have, the little girl is a redhead. A little work with a fabric marker and now she looks much more like Trixie. That particular piece was a charm square. I loved that it had a girl and a little rug in it. (Those of you with Montessori schools in your lives will understand the meaning of the little rug.) The name of the quilt is from the school's motto "Where the Love of Learning Begins".

I was able to get a quick picture during the carpool pick up time today - my last one at that school. Trixie's a kindergartener now.

thrifty thursday

How does that line from The Godfather go? "Just when I got out, they pulled me back in." Or something like that.

Last week I sat at the table in my quilting group and was quietly working on my baby hexagons (maybe a progress update tomorrow) when Bernice walked up to me and asked if I was sick of the hexagons yet.

I said, "Just about". She replied that she had something I might be interested in.

So yes, I've bought another hexagon project (and this one's huge).

I didn't count how many there were total, but these are much larger than the other hexagons I've worked with and I imagine when they are all put together (there are pieces in ziploc baggies for about 30 more) there will be enough for a bed quilt.

I'm posting these now, but don't count on this project getting touched anytime this year. I've discovered that yes, I am a bit sick of them for the time being.

one step closer

The hexagon diamond top is done! In the photo it's hanging at my weekly quilt group meeting for show and tell. The strips of fabric to the right are vintage scraps that will be used to bind it. The backing will be a combination of yellow and blue solids that I have on hand.

For now I'm leaving the piece alone. I need a bit of a break from it. I'm pretty sure that I'm simply going to trim down what you see, binding it with the blue print and use it as a wall hanging (I'm concerned that some of the original stitching in the diamonds that were complete may not hold up well in a quilt that's used on a daily basis). I do have a little bit of nagging doubt though about not putting a border on it. Instead of tearing ahead and regretting it later, I'll let it sit in the back of my mind for a bit.

I hope to have a better sense of what I want it to be before our driving vacation at the end of June. I can get a lot of hand quilting done on the drive from IL to NH.

cleopatra's table linens

Okay, not really Cleopatra. They were made for my friend, Norma. She's had the fabric for ages. It was given to her by an older aunt that worked for the state department and traveled the world collecting mementos of her adventures. This fabric was brought back from Egypt in the 70's.

Not sure what to do with it, she showed it to me on a visit to her home several months ago. We agreed that since Norma and her husband do a lot of entertaining, napkins and a table runner would certainly be put to use. With a runner and 10 napkins, they'd even be great for an outdoor buffet. The colors and print just say summer deck party to me.

Now I need to use this post as a reminder to go through my stash and make up some more cloth napkins to replace the ones we've recently worn out.

cath kidston purse

Just before I went handwork crazy with all those hexagons I got this book for my birthday.

Fun projects and great pictures, but the best part - it comes with PRECUT pieces for making the purse on the cover. PRECUT! Ready to sew. How wonderful is that?

Talk about a quick way to have a sense of accomplishment. I love to sew - I hate to do the prep work (kind of like painting a room). I did add a lining to the bag to give it more structure and included a zippered pocket, but still, the rest was already cut out!

Now if only all the garment projects I have in the wings would magically prep themselves for sewing. I need some elves to come visit me.

dedication gown

Spring cleaning has begun around here. That means going through the girls' closets to put away the dark, long-sleeved dresses and start bringing out the brighter, short-sleeved ones (even if it means layering them with long-sleeved tee shirts). In the back of Trixie's closet I found this:

It's the gown I made for all three kids' dedication ceremonies. I suppose with the last ceremony being nearly 4 years ago, I can safely store it with their other clothes that I can't bear to give away.

This was my first and last attempt at hand smocking. An easy pattern, but plenty of a challenge for a beginner. I wanted something simple that would be appropriate for both boys and girls since I was making it for Glenn, but had no idea if we'd have more sons or daughters. The sleeves gather with a cotton drawstring. The back has two shank pearl buttons with elastic loops.

The fabric is batiste - incredibly soft, though sheer enough that I put all three kids in a white cotton sleeper underneath. Plus, all three were dedicated in colder months. After each service, I embroidered their initials near the hem.

This weekend Glenn, Chris and I will be attending the Bar Mitzvah of a friend's son born just a few months before Glenn. Hard to believe that this gown is close to 13 years old. I could swear that both boys were still into dump trucks just yesterday.

hexies

Several days ago Jan asked what we worked on during the Olympics.

Jan, great minds must think alike. Among some other embroidery projects, these hand pieced hexagons have taken over my life.

They were purchased last year at the garage sale. I brought home a box of antique UFO's and among them were these hexagon diamond blocks.

A few were finished, but most were not. I started with the ones that had the centers and next round done. You know, sort of a quick fix to feel like I'd accomplished something. After that came the ones where I had to sew the individual hexies together and then put them on the block in a row. Took a little longer, but it's amazing what you can do when figure skating's on.

I wish I could say that these are done with the precision of Jan's English piecing (I think that's the method she's using). That's one drawback to picking up on a project where someone else has left off. These were done in a more haphazard way. None of the seams are exactly 1/4". They aren't pressed in any order that I could make sense of. Some of the hexagons are slightly larger or smaller than the others. It's definitely a make do project. Nothing a steam iron can't fix, I'm finding.

I'm nearing the end of them. I have about 3 more blocks to go and then I can start assembling them. (There are actually more that I didn't photograph. In the end I think I'll have about 20.) The best route to go seems to applique them onto a background fabric - more handwork and the summer olympics are two years away.

woof

I took a quick trip to Mitsua with a friend for lunch and some time in their bookstore a few weeks ago.

This title grabbed my attention -

It's English translation on the spine is "Let's Make School Bags & Goods!"

Okay, don't mind if I do.

Can you tell I bought the book for the pattern on the cover? Trixie needed a new thin tote to carry her piano book to lessons. She loves dogs as much as Ellie loves cats.

I loved the details in the pattern like the buckle embroidery.

All the materials were in the stash from thrifting over the years. I love the old white buttons. They had centers that were deep enough to hide the shanks on the grey buttons.

I didn't vary one bit from the pattern other than color. I've learned that when a child sees a pattern in a book, they expect it to look a lot like that picture and if I vary it, I'm accused of not making the item to which they agreed. We made one concession though - Trixie requested pink, "My new favorite color, mom. Pink, not purple. Don't forget that, it's pink now."

This was a fun little sewing reward for completing my common threads quilt top from round one! Tomorrow it's back to my common threads commitments. The quilt needs to be sandwiched and I have some block challenges that need my attention.

mischievous gnome messenger bag

This bag has been two years in the making. I bought the pattern from Montessori by Hand - long enough ago that she now uses a different name for her business. My eye was drawn to it because I had all the fabrics shown in her photo of the completed project. However, when it came time to use them, I couldn't. I think it was a combination of the brown wool with a lighter cotton with a white background. One says fall/winter, the other spring/summer. I'd never feel comfortable carrying it. (Yes, I'm one of those people who has a problem with white shoes after Labor Day) The pile of fabrics sat month after month.

In an effort to clear my sewing table of projects I'd put aside, this one was finally tackled during a warm spell a couple weeks ago. (By warm, I mean close to the freezing mark.) I pulled out the Heather Ross fabric with the white background and pink/orange/brown polka dots. It still didn't seem right and then I spied the orange and red polka dots leftover from another project. Perfect.

It all fell together after that. The button and ribbon practically jumped out at me from my stash.

It's taken me ages to cut into that gnome fabric because I love it so.

The lining is a Heather Ross stripe sold as a companion to the gnomes.

The pattern is very well written and goes together easily. The zippered pocket in the lining is a great detail that can easily be used for other tote projects. I was also leery of there not being a closure under the flap to support all the junk I carry around. Other messenger bags I've made have not held together at the top very well. Because the straps are placed directly on the sides rather than on the back panel, that's not an issue with this pattern. The interfacing called for is just the right amount of support. The front of the bag has two pockets for a cell phone and keys. There's a larger pocket on the back for a quilting magazine. My embroidery pouch fits inside with room to spare.

One more project off the to-do list.

green tea on a cold day

I'm done with winter. Unfortunately, it's not done with me.

My studio is in the basement which is a nice, cool place to be in the summer months. Right about now though - I almost dread heading down there to sew because of the bone chilling cold. And it's taking its toll on me.

The past few weeks have been spent doing a lot of handwork upstairs with a minimum of sewing at my machine. When something has to be done down there, I've been saving it for a day that's at least in the 20's. Then I run upstairs to make more tea when I'm finished.

Now I have this little cutie sitting on my spice canisters to greet me when I reach for some earl grey. She's from the Softies book. The only change I made to her is on the tag. It reads "cha" or tea in Chinese.

Maybe I should make a stuffed sun.

glenn's quilt

Remember that quilt I needed to have done before Christmas? Here it is and I'm happy to report, I made the deadline. Didn't even have to sew binding on Christmas Eve. Not that I've done that before... ; )

I'm sure many of you recognize the Lush line of fabrics. I added another polka dot to have one more print and, as you can see, many solids. The solids were generously given to me by a woman in my quilting group who will be downsizing soon and wanted to reduce her stash.

This all started because Glenn asked me for a fleece blanket for Christmas(he'd seen them rolled up at Target and Walmart). Seriously kid, you don't ask your mom, the quilter, for a cheapo fleece blanket for a gift. At least don't assume she'd actually buy one. Instead, I finally pulled out those gorgeous fabrics (also spurred on by Jacquie's Common Threads quilt for her son made with the same line). Jan came over for a last minute consultation before I began cutting and gave me reassurance that I could get it done - I started the cutting on the Sunday before Christmas. To give Glenn the softness he wanted, I backed the quilt with faux minkee. (I say faux minkee because it's not the actual brand. I bought it at Joann's. Their version isn't as plush or stretchy which worked to my advantage.)

Spray basting held it in place very well during the quilting process. In fact, the only place where I had a few tiny puckers was on the front of the quilt. All that's left to do is name it and put a label on the back. In the meantime, it's being put to good use on his bed.

He's happy, I'm happy.