Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tessellation Debut

The blues and yellows pop right out at you---very mesmerizing to me--OK I am drooling a little I know, but I am so proud of this one!!  These are all Joann prints.

The backing came out looking like an ocean of serenity in three different shades.  The light blue side is a sheet that was taking up space in a closet.  How sweet is that!!  This was my first pieced backing and I am in love! 

I used Hobbs Heirloom, (not my fave), but it was worth a try and it made the quilt very heavy for those cold nights coming our way;)  The quilting was done stitch in the ditch style with Sulky Sapphire and bound in polka dots.  The results of the binding were fabulous!!!
This baby is finally done after sitting on my side table for 3 months waiting to be sandwiched and quilted:)  What a sense of accomplishment  **BIG smile**


It's the middle of the week already--September is closing and October's fall season is upon us-I am in love!! 
Time to go sandwich that Lucy Goosey quilt and quilt it up.  I am having my friend Steph shadow me today so she can learn the process.  She has a simple top, her first one, all ready to go.  Should be really fun hanging out and getting some work done;)

Enjoy your Wednesday,

SaraXXXX

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

What is pink,blue,red and black??

OK so I have only been wanting to make one of these Anna Marie Horner pincushion caddies like forever now!!!  My good friend Terri and I did a pattern swap recently and it worked out really well for each of us-thanks again Terri!!! 

I used some scraps from the stash and the light blue was from a sheet.  The fiberfill was plentiful for this caddy--took lots and lots to make it plump, probably could have used a tad more;)  Hand stitching was easy too especially since I could sit with Ayden this morning to finish up the bottom of it.  I added some cardboard to the bottom to make it stiffer as well.
The pattern was very user friendly and it went together in about 5 hrs. which is good for me;)  Things always take longer due to my little guy and LIFE as I always say:)
Sidenote: the cardboard was actually left over from the pressing part of this tute so that worked to my advantage very well.

Every time I take a look at this pincushion it makes me smile BIG:):):):):):)

Hugs,
Sara

Friday, September 24, 2010

A Couple of Catchups

Hi ya'll,

Haven't posted anything project wise in awhile so I figured I would get back into the game a little here:)

For some reason it took me forever to get this grocery bag dispenser done, but here it is and I am so glad that I have all the bags(with the help of Ayden) out from under my kitchen sink cabinets;)  Now they have a nice, handmade home for further use and it's came out huge so I can fit A LOT of bags in her.

after getting home I saw that this fabric matched beautifully with the binding I needed for the twin quilt
Two weeks ago I got to visit a fabric shop in town and boy do I love them!!!  They had a kids play area which was a huge plus so mommy could actually look around.  The ladies were so sweet and ofcourse, couldn't get enough of my sweet little boy;)  The best reason I have for loving this shop is that they are Christian operated.  There is evidence of that everywhere, not only in the workers, but in their actual fabric tagging as you can see here.  I also picked up a few fat eighths too for various projects.  Tina Givens, Moi by Moda and others.

Binding ready to go and is , in fact, sewn onto the front, hand stitching next:)
Do you remember this quilt?  The ticker tape quilt that was very time consuming, but in the end I love it and so does Ayden!!

each square/rectangle was pinked to prevent less fraying, but there still is some as you can see, so out come the scissors
Had to wash this bad boy two times in the last couple of weeks due to juice stain and then a sick child.  It has a nice crinkly feeling which I love, but what's not to love is the binding that was coming up on the back from my hand stitches in two different areas.  BUT I am happy it wasn't the whole thing:(  Instead of getting mad I went online and found a very useful binding method using a ladder stitch.  So I practiced away!!  This stitch definitely lays the binding fabric very cleanly across my backing fabric.  You can't see the stitches at all and there is that extra feeling of accomplishment and security in knowing that it shouldn't come undone anytime soon in the washing machine.




 Binding time for the twin size now!!!  And you can go check out the giveaway of Castle Peeps over at Talk About Fabric.


 See ya'll later,

Sara

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Speaking out for Tula Pink

Some of you know that I am a HUGE fan of Tula Pink---and I do mean huge!!  I love her style, the colors, the prints, it's so beautifully done:)  My favorite is-----WELL I would say Plume, but I really, REALLY adore them all!!!  Drooling over her fabric is about all I can do right now until I have some funds to splurge--whenever that is going to happen I don't know--BUT I know I would NEVER, ever buy a knock off of her fabric !!!!!!  That would be so degrading to the designer and she is my TOP designer as I have been repeatedly making known to ya'll;)


When I saw this post last night it really hit me that some people just don't give a DAMN about artist's and their work that is straight from their HEART!!!!!!  I hope Walmart goes down for this and I hope Tula can then rest easy and KNOW that HER WORK is HER WORK and not to be duplicated:):)

We have to keep supporting our Tula as sewers and quilters and artists of all kinds because the creative world would be very sad and lonely without them!!  Creativity is a MUST!!!!  God blessed us each with some sort of creative juices and we need to be able to express this without being mocked by others---WALMART!!

OK now that I have vented maybe I can go back to enjoying some fabric-----------------some of the real stuff---------------------some of Tula Pink;)

Take care ya'll,

Sara

Friday, September 17, 2010

My blog buddy Ariane:)

Get your typing fingers ready to go see Ariane over at Ariane's Crafts.  She has some amazing prizes that could end up in your home soon;)  It's her 300th post giveaway!! 

Ariane is a very sweet person so make sure you leave her a GREAT comment!

XXSara

free motion or some straight line quilting?

went and purchased an open toe foot the other day!




This is what I have been playing around with the last couple of days for a few minutes here and there.  Learning that stippling DOES take practice and it may be awhile before I actually like the results;)  I have also played with stars and hearts which aren't too easy either.  All the same this is soo much fun to experiment.

lines are somewhat wonky- time will improve this though   

And then the straight line quilting came into play and well, I am really liking this a lot more since I am finally attempting it and not just looking at everyone else's work with this style;)  This was a starting point in the pic above, but when it was completed all the squares had nice pretty x's on them and the back is beautiful in red thread. 

So maybe a little straight line quilting will make me happy for awhile and then some free motion and so on and so forth- LOL!  ALL of  these quilting options are so enlightening to me!

Out of curiosity, which style(s) do you prefer?

Tomorrow is Art in the Heart, very happy to be going:)  I will report back with how that went.

XXSara

Monday, September 13, 2010

A couple teasers

First off my new quilting friend, Kelly and I got together today for show and tell and a little sewing between the gabbing going on and chasing Ayden around whenever he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing!!

She introduced me to basting with quilt basting spray---and OMgoodness why haven't I been using this already????  This stuff is MARVELOUSLY EASY and sticks sewwww well!!!  Love you Kelly!

Secondly, I just went over to Badlands Quilts and saw that Karen is having a wonderful giveaway of Anna Marie Horner, Neptune and Fresh Cottons fabric:)  Anna Marie Horner is one of my FAVES!!   Yes!  Pick me please.

So what was  I  sewing today you ask?  Finally I am checking off my list the grocery bag dispenser over at Moda Bake Shop--- well it will be completely done probably tomorrow.  I am loving the simplicity and the chance to improve my machine quilting skills some more;)

Ta,Ta for now,

Sara

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Fabric anyone?

So the story goes that I got a HUGE garbage bag from a mature quilter some time ago and I found some fabric that I liked and some not so much to put it nicely;)

Anyone know anyone that would be interested??   Maybe even use it for scrap practice fabric.

Just send me a shout out!

XX Sara

EDITED: fabric is taken:)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Warm apple cider,cinnamon in the air,pumpkin farm to visit...

FALL is coming or wishful thinking on my part!!!

Here is a fall embroidery pattern I finished last night filled in (sort of:) with a satin stitch.  I liked working with different colors and fall colors at that! 

"A touch of Autumn" is written on top in a pale green and light brown color


I was going to sew it onto a towel of some sort, but I don't think the material I did this on is sturdy enough.  Next time need to use a quilter's cotton--hellooo!  Time to scour the internet for ideas on what to do with this for a nice fall decoration.  Suggest away please.

Ayden enjoyed himself at the park this past weekend with mommy and daddy.

You know I can't recall him taking a nap that day either!!

XX Sara

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Giveaway with lots of pretties!

Amanda over at the quilted fish is giving away some very pretty pink fabric selections, buttons and quilt pattern to die for---SERIOUSLY!!!  PLEASE go drool away!!  I sure did:)

I need to go finish my embroidery project for the fall season that is creeping up on us.  I got this free pattern from Ariane over at Ariane's Crafts.  It is so adorable and could then be placed on a nice tea towel or bathroom towel afterward.  I will be posting a pic soon:)


  Take care,

  SARA

Favorites

Pancakes made by me
wild blackberry jam from my friend, Steph
my new Lime Lights toes!
basting not really FAVORITE!!


BUT, showing it finished with all the pins in place is my FAVORITE!
in the process of quilting her and learning that quilting a twin quilt is WORK;)
Hope ya'll are enjoying the long weekend and some of your favorite things!!

Take care.

Sara