This has been a very fun week of sewing. After finishing up my charity Perfect Quilted Tote, I set my sights on a new wall hanging for my hubby's office. When I saw Carolyn Friedlander's Austin House quilt debut at Quilt Market, I knew it was perfect for him, as he's a big fan of mid-century modern architecture.
The three houses came together very quickly, and the paper piecing worked beautifully. After much debate (and eventually asking the hubs for advice), I decided to make each house different, and I love the way my little cul-de-sac turned out. I used many of the fabrics from this pull of mostly Carolyn Friedlander prints.
Now I need to get them all connected and then on to basting and quilting! After finishing the houses, I took a little break to do something that wasn't even on my to do list (because I obviously needed another project) -- a few One-Hour Baskets from the super easy tutorial by Kelby Sews.
These took more than an hour (I'm a slow cutter and sewer), but they were still super quick and just the thing to help organize the fabrics I have pulled for my Patchwork City sampler quilt. The before photo:
Folding lots of fabric
Done! Side by side, they fit perfectly in my Expedit shelf unit, and they fit folded fabric just right.
Now I need to put these fabrics back to work.
The neverending to do list:
I added another project to the "finished" column last night -- another perfect quilted tote!
I used the wonderful pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, and though this is the second perfect quilted tote I've made, for some reason, I struggled a lot with this one (my fault, not the pattern's). It seemed like everything kept going wrong, and I was fixated on every little part since this tote is for an STLMQG charity project, not me, so I really wanted to make sure I got it right. In the end, I'm really happy with it (and also really happy to be finished).
The colors were based on the floral scrap that I used in the middle of each patchwork section (Tula Pink, perhaps?), so I gathered my pink, fuchsia, teal, and aqua scraps and got to work. I always enjoy the process of the quilt-as-you-go on the outside of this bag, and this was no exception.
I had originally planned to use a chevron pattern for the lining until it occurred to me how difficult it would be to line up all the seams, so I eventually settled on this Remix print, which worked out great. I used the chevron for the lining of the pockets, which I think was a fun touch. You can see the little STLMQG label I snuck into the bottom of the zipper pocket in the second pic.
The handles and outside solid are Essex Yarn-Dyed in Steel. I love how this bag (finally) came out, and I hope the recipient does, too!
We recently returned from a long road trip to Texas, so I was itching to get back in front of my sewing machine and hit the ground running this week. I finished up my Rhoda Ruth mini quilt and my July bee blocks for the Emerge Circle of do.Good Stitches. You can see lots more photos and get all the info at those links.
Then, I knocked another item of my list that had probably been sitting there for over a year: a superhero cape for B.
I dragged B and the hubby into a LQS this weekend while I was looking for something. When B spotted this Dr. Seuss fabric, he was instantly in love. He is obsessed with Dr. Seuss, so I said he could pick out one he wanted, and I'd make him something.
After
shooting down his initial suggestion of a "candy bag, and we can put
candy in it" (I realized he was talking about a bag for Halloween, and I
told him he could use the Dr. Seuss bag
I already made him), we settled on using it for the cape I'd already
been planning to make. I told him he could be Super Seuss. :)
I used this tutorial
from Thread Riding Hood for the cape, which came together quite easily,
and then couldn't resist adding a superhero mask (I used this tutorial from Handmade Frenzy). He's all ready to fight rhyming criminals wherever they may be (or to watch American Ninja Warrior).
Then, I got back to working on the perfect quilted tote I'm making for an STLMQG charity project. I grabbed the lining fabric and zipper I needed this weekend, so we're on to the final stages of assembly. I'm hoping to wrap this one up quickly and perhaps finish a second one before the August deadline.
Last, I pulled a final bundle to use for my hubby's new office wall hanging. The pattern's a mystery to him, so I'll have to keep this one under wraps, but I narrowed down the colors from this pull, focusing on the greens, blues, and grays, and I've got the templates all cut and ready to go. I'm excited to get started on this one!
The neverending (and usually growing) to do list:
This weekend, I added a new little mini to my wall! I previewed this project last month, and it was the first thing I finished after returning from our recent travels. The fabrics are from Elizabeth Hartman's upcoming fabric collection, Rhoda Ruth. The colors in this line are so gorgeous, and it includes so many great blenders, along with some fun characters -- cats, foxes, and giraffes.
The simple mini was made using a mini charm pack of the collection that the sweet, sweet ladies at my LQS brought back for me from Quilt Market, knowing my love for EH. The patchwork is surrounded by a border of Robert Kaufman chambray left over from my recent clothing finishes.
I machine bound it in Subway Routes in Dusk from the Gramercy collection and backed it using a fat quarter of some Flea Market Fancy that's been hanging out in my stash. Not wanting to distract from the fabrics, I quilted it in white thread in a simple crosshatch pattern.
I love how these little foxes worked out (totally unplanned):
It's already been hung in a prime spot above my sewing machine so I can drool over it until the line comes out in a few more months.
Last night, I finished up my July bee blocks for Amanda and the Emerge do.Good Stitches circle. Amanda asked us to use the arrow block templates from this design, but she switched up the layout. She picked this fun color palette from Design Seeds, which was definitely outside my normal color zone and a bit of a challenge for my stash, but I'm excited to see this quilt come together.
I hope she likes what I came up with, which included various solids, a little Alison Glass and Cotton + Steel, and some Art Gallery Oval Elements.
While I had my solids out, I also made up a quick block to send to the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild for their Quilt for Mother Emanuel Project. I love the way they've stepped up to show support and love for the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in the wake of the recent tragedy there, and I'm glad to get to play a little part. But, of course, I packed up the block before I snapped a pic of it -- geez. Oh, well.
The three houses came together very quickly, and the paper piecing worked beautifully. After much debate (and eventually asking the hubs for advice), I decided to make each house different, and I love the way my little cul-de-sac turned out. I used many of the fabrics from this pull of mostly Carolyn Friedlander prints.
Now I need to get them all connected and then on to basting and quilting! After finishing the houses, I took a little break to do something that wasn't even on my to do list (because I obviously needed another project) -- a few One-Hour Baskets from the super easy tutorial by Kelby Sews.
These took more than an hour (I'm a slow cutter and sewer), but they were still super quick and just the thing to help organize the fabrics I have pulled for my Patchwork City sampler quilt. The before photo:
Done! Side by side, they fit perfectly in my Expedit shelf unit, and they fit folded fabric just right.
Now I need to put these fabrics back to work.
