Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Snowfall,Stitching and Fun Finds

 This past week, Ayden went to school Monday.  That is it.  The rest of the week he was on SNOW days!!  Perfect time to do a little homework every day.  Get a science experiment in.  Have a snow ball fight!  Be silly as a family!!  Loved. it. to. pieces.
 A few posts or more back I told ya'll about the Daisychain ABCs Sampler from Alicia Paulson.  Well, I started her up and these are some progress shots. 
 I used Warm and Natural batting on the back of the Kona to help stabilize my stitching and also to hide the thread on the back. Works like a charm.  Instead of crewel wool, I dug into my Presencia perle cotton thread.
 Alica Paulson's pattern calls for a variety of stitches to not only, keep you on your toes, but to keep it interesting!
 Color is key here and I love being able to play with all my perle cotton in one sampler.  The threaded back stitch for the letter "C" is one that I have not participated in thus far.  I like it more and more!
 Lots and lots of good practice with detailed instructions for each letter makes it all the more relaxing.
 Last night I was able to create the stitches needed for "D" and "E."
 Two letters a day is a pleasant pace for me.  Satin stitch galore for the "e" but so bold in cyclamen pink!  "D" is in lavender.
Somehow I had forgotten about a fabric designer that is dear to me.  A fellow blogger had mentioned her on her blog the other day and i felt the need to go check out her new blog.  Sandi Henderson's to be exact.  Then I joined her over on Instagram.  Yep you can find me over there too.  Anyway, while over at Sandi's neck of the woods, I discovered some free valentine envelope print offs!!  They are SEW darn cute and dainty!  They make you want to celebrate!  I printed off a few and decided that one will be designated to a friend and the other two are for teacher's of Ayden.  So go get your free envelopes! 

Maybe while you are cutting out your Valentines, you can head on over to qnntv.com for a sneak peaky at Katy Jones of ginger Monkey new Quilt Monkey program?!!  She is doing a fantastic job!!!  As soon as I knew she was going to have a show on QNNTV, I went right over and signed up for the year!  Tons of quilting shows to view whenever you want!!!!  Just wanted to share with ya'll!!!!

***Looks like I have 2 more weeks to go before Jade gets here!!!!!  The waiting game begins!!!!

May your week be filled with joy and stitching!

Sara 









Monday, January 27, 2014

Posies for Our Girlie


As ya'll know I am getting down to the wire with this baby baking thing!  Can you believe I had managed to make everything else for our little girl except a quilt??!!  Well I had one for her room,but the colors didn't agree totally with the violet walls.  

I figured 5 more weeks until due date so why not try to get a good start on her quilt.  Little did I know I would finish this quilt with still 3 weeks to spare before Jade arrives!!  Posy by Aneela Hoey was already planned for her long ago.  I needed a pattern.  First one that came to mind was the lattice design I have seen many times before and knew that I wanted to make one day.  Amy Smart has an excellent one over MBS that took 2 charm packs and 1 yd of sashing fabric. 

One day to cut all the charms from the fat eighths and the Kona purple for sashing.  2nd day I started piecing and by the 3rd day I had a quilt top ready for quilting!  How is that for a speedy pattern.

Wanting to allow the sweet Posy prints to stand out on their own, I did a simple serpentine stitch in Aurifil 50wt Blossom Pink for the quilting.  I worked my way through each of the rows, horizontally and diagonally.  Very nice, easy going quilting.

peach, pink, mint,lilac and deep purple oh my!  I was gushing wildly over them all!

Oh and guess what I used for the backing?!  Cuddle Minky!!!!  So worth every Fuchsia  piece that I had on my belly and all over my cutting table;) Maybe next time I will be brave enough to do some FMQ with this luxurious stuff!! 

Texture is marvelous and this stuff really is like butter.  Literally! Stitches are so well hidden too:)

I figured since the rest of the quilt was a snap,why not do an extra special binding on her. Using this tutorial here, I got to work on a faux piped binding.   I had some minty Mary Engelbreit on hand and some broadcloth in pink leftover from another project that matched beautifully.  This a definite success and I can see myself using this technique again.  The finished look of it blows me away every time I look at this quilt!!!

There you have it!  A Posy quilt for Jade!!!!  There is some batting in the center to stabilize it better.  Otherwise I was afraid there would have been too much drape to it.  I was still torn, I didn't want it to be too warm for her either.  We do have the air conditioner on for quite a span of time in the summer and the house does get chilly.  Also, her room is probably one of the coolest in the house anyway.  So she should be just fine.  Cannot wait to see her cuddled up under it!!!!!!

Since then I have taken up a couple small, "one afternoon to finish" type things.

I was determined to make a coffee cozy for my Ayden's kindergarten teacher in honor of Valentine's Day.  She is an amazing, first year teacher that is so well organized, kind and giving to the kids.  My son ADORES her!  He likes to play this game with her every morning where he sneaks up on her and then says Boo!  Every. morning.  So cute!  The stitched pattern is from feeling stitchy's blog.  

By trying out my new Sulky Paper Solvy, I managed to place the paper over the fabric and stitch it out fairly quickly.  Lots of lazy daisy and french knots stitching scattered around the heart.  Then I used a back stitch sparingly for the arrow.  The solvy was supposed to be easily removed in some lukewarm water.  I had a hard time removing all the little bits,but most of them are gone now.  Numerous water baths later.  Maybe I did something wrong, very frustrating:(  Concept wise it is great!


Chez Moi is on the front and some Kona in Pacific for the back.  
Ayden asked to give it to his teacher and of course I obliged.  Just need one of those ever so popular hearts full of delicious chocolates to go with her cozy!  **I heard that she is an avid coffee drinker so this should be perfect!

Simultaneously, I was working on an appliqued onesie for Jade.  I winged the bunny and added the flannel nose and tail and cotton eye last minute.  It was a joy to create!

I cannot recall what fabric this is as there was no selvage either.  I fused the bunny to some Pellon Wonder Under and then stitched it down to the onesie. For the outline stitch, I did a repeating "x" available on my Janome MC 6500.  Eeeeep!  It. is. going. to. be. so CUTE on her!!!!!

Let's see what else I can get into, in between napping and taking it easy *wink, wink*

****BTW, thank you to everyone that asked about my appointment last week.  It is wonderful to have caring, sweet followers!!****

Hugs!

Sara
























Thursday, January 23, 2014

Violet Twist

There was a bit of indecisiveness going 'round with what color to choose for Jade's room.  Pink?  The hubby said no.  I was swayed toward soft blues for awhile.  I was trying to match the color to my Dancing Stars quilt to be honest.  I was looking at some fabric online (shocking)  and found the color periwinkle.  Showed it to the hubby and he agreed that a shade of purple would work!  It is always a huge plus to have both parties in agreement.  I went to Lowes and looked at some paint chips to find periwinkle.  The one that they carried wasn't exactly the right shade I was envisioning.  I grabbed some that were similar and brought them home.

Isn't it a breath of fresh air with a lingering scent of lilac perhaps.  I. love. it.  Just in case you couldn't tell that already---hehehehe  Valspar Violet Twist I love you!!!!!!

I adore her room with all the light streaming in every morning and my nice,new comfy rocker/glider I bought for a steal from Craigslist.  (See the Dancing Stars quilt??)

Originally, hubby was going to paint one wall and do a mural across it.  The violet was going to clash with the other 3 tan walls so we had to nix that idea.  I told him well since you are painting the whole room then let's skip the mural and do one in Ayden's room instead.  He is 6 yrs old and will be able to appreciate it:):)  I LOVE THIS MAN!  He went ahead and did a quick butterfly sketch with flowers instead and surprised me!

I am 36 weeks and I have an appointment today with my doctor to see where Jade is hanging out in my belly;)  I will keep ya'll updated!

Hugs!

Sara