Welcome to the Farm

A little over a year ago, the farming bug swept through my quilting friends. They were quilting along with the Farmer's Wife book. I was enchanted with the idea of making these cute little blocks, but also completely intimidated, so I did what any reasonable person would do: bought the book and put it on the shelf so i could do it later.

Well, I decided this year would be the year I started farming. I printed up all the templates and got to work. Here's my progress update about four weeks in:

I kinda want everyone to start farming now. Happy sewing, friends.

Marcelle Medallion - Swimming Around

Hello, Blog!

It's been months since I've logged in, and in that time, so much has changed, and so many quilts have come into this world. I must admit, I share tiny pictures of them on Instagram, but I'm awful at taking nice pictures and updating my blog. This one though, was specially requested and I did promise to post pictures of it.

Over on Instagram, the Marcelle Medallion from the Liberty Love book has become quite popular. Alexia - the author, came and spoke at my guild meeting a few months ago, so I decided I needed to make the quilt.

My first version was actually all in blues, but I don't have any pictures of it yet, since I submitted it to the local fair (hey - I get a free ticket for entering something). :) That one was gifted to a friend, so I made another for myself, ALL IN ORANGE. Okay,  enough words, here are the pictures.

I know it's not all orange, but I love the dancing hula girls! 

Here you can see my Orange Churn Dash too!

They are great friends, they look wonderful together.

My favorite part about this quilt is that it was only possible because of the generosity of my friends! I only had the lobsters, whales and submarines, but multiple friends gave/traded fabric to give me all the fish, the seahorses, the octopuses, etc. That's not even mentioning the lovely ladies who gave me access to their entire orange stash. Snuggling in this quilt is what being covered in love feels like. I'm so grateful to my friends, both local and online. 

I've also been dabbling in clothing, so maybe soon I'll post pictures of the dress I made!

Until next time, happy fabric hoarding, or sewing. Whatever you prefer.

A Ghastlie Good Time

Oh I love the Ghastlies. They're such a wonderfully weird, creepy family, and I just can't get enough of them. I made my first Ghastlies Quilt last year, and so when the new collection came out this year, of course I bought some. Then, like most fabric hoarders who carefully guard their protected stash, I let it sit. After a few months, my mom needed a christmas present, so I made her a Ghastlies Pillow with triangles. That was meant to be a small project, since everyone knows fussy cutting wastes so much fabric. But, after it was finished, I couldn't get it out of my head, and I wanted to make a quilt out of it! I scaled up my triangles a bit, and this is what I ended up with:

Originally I was going to cut the sides so they were straight, but I just couldn't bear to lose the people! They're just too fantastic. 

The back was again a work in improv piecing - someone please let me know if I"m totally wrong in my usage of improv. There basically was no plan, and I just started putting things together. I didn't feel very confident, but my IG friends encouraged me through it. Oddly enough, my favorite part is the big empty part in the middle where I put some more people. 

So, I realized during this process but didn't feel like changing it - there's Kona White and Kona Snow in this section, as well as another not-quite-white fabric. It sorta bugs me, but I'm going to practice  'Live and Let Live'  here.

I free motion quilted this quilt with loopy loops, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. This quilt has quickly made it's way up to the top of the list of my favorite things. I really like that I now have 2 Ghastlies quilts to snuggle under.

That's all I have to share today, but I'll be back soon to share my Sweet Pouch Swap contribution!

Until then, Happy Sewing!

2012 Wrap Up

I have a confession. The post was started 12 days ago. The photos were all taken, and I've just been awful about sitting down at my computer to upload them and finish typing everything out! hehe Anyway, without further ado, I wanted to share my last two quilts from 2012.

The first was for my little brother. He's 24, turning 25, and he's a very hip/cool kid. So of course when I was brainstorming what I could do for him, I knew it would have to be something modern, and less traditional. He has a little disney Vinalmation character inspired by Piet Mondiran - so that was what I ran with.

I really like how this quilt turned out, even though I don't think I would do it again!

Looking back, if I could change something about this quilt, it would be using colored thread in my bobbins when I quilted the colored blocks on the front. It doesn't look terrible, but I really don't like it very much. I do enjoy that working on this quilt let me try a few different free-motion quilting techniques though!

The next quilt was for my sister. She's 19, and we have very different tastes in style and colors. I'm usually wearing just about every color possible, and she's generally in blacks, greys and blues. So, when I first saw the Tula Pink Nightshade collection, I knew I needed to get it for her. Once I had it though, I was totally stumped. The girl fabric (Coven) was my absolute favorite, but it was just so big, and I couldn't figure out what pattern to use. After a few months of thinking about it, I decided I was just going to improv piece it, and see where we ended up. Here is the finished product.

I decided to back it in grey Minky - mostly because I have a quilt with minky backing, and it's my favorite to snuggle under when it's chilly. For quilting, I tried my hand at a spider web.

I do like the look of the spider web quilting, but next time, I'm going to make a few focal points on the spider web instead of just one. 

For the quilt, I also decided to try my hand at making a label. It didn't turn out the best, but I'm posting it here so that down the road I can look back and see if my quilt labels have progressed at all. 

I wanted sister to be surprised by the quilt, so at our pre-christmas party, I gave her this pillow. They look really cute as a set on her bed together now.

Have a great weekend, and until next time, Happy Sewing!

Pretty Little Dresdens All in a Row

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had some lovely times with your family and friends. Over the holiday weekend, I decided to get comfortable with my EZ Dresden ruler – which I talked about in my last post. Here are the blocks I’ve completed.

I’m still not entirely sure what I’m going to do with them all yet, but they do look quite nice handing out all together on my design wall.

Also, this weekend, boyfriend decided he wanted to learn to sew. He even went to the fabric store and picked out 2-3 fabrics he particularly liked so he could practice. But, he doesn’t want to sew with the machine; he wants to sew by hand. I put together a quick little hand-sewing kit, and whipped up this little pincushion to keep him company. J

I can't believe December is only a few days away!! I'm buckeling down on some serious secret sewing projects. More soon!

Until next time, Happy Sewing!

Dresden Adventures!

The days have felt all turned around here. I was certain that Tuesday was Wednesday, and Wednesday was Friday?? So while I am a few hours shy of Wednesday, I wanted to share what was new in my sewing world. Several months back, I did a scrap swap with Elisa at Stitched Outside the Ditch. When I opened the package she sent me, I was so excited to find an EZ Dresden Ruler in the box. I'd seen people using them around the blogosphere, but I hadn't taken the time to buy one. I made a big stink about how I was so excited to use it, then I put it down for the past 4 months or so as I've tried to finish Christmas gifts and other misc. projects.

Of course, with just over a month left until Christmas, I decided it was time to try using the ruler and tackle some of my scraps.

My first attempt was more scrappy - I wanted to use this fabric with these cute little kids on it. Here's what I ended up with:

I have an overwhelming not-so-subtle love for polka dots (like every other quilter in the world), so I pulled some of my polka dots and tried my hand. I love how the little boys and girls alternate. I also have a little story for them all in my head.

After that block, I wanted to go with a darker color scheme. So, I started playing with my scraps and the end result was:

I am particularly tickled by the addition of the Ghastlies Gal. I seriously love the Ghastlies, and I would add them to every quilt if I could get away with it!

I really liked the black/orange combo, so I made a black/green block next:

The pear in the center was from a fabric scrap that I'd purchased from Teri at Sew Fantastic. Seriously, I love when quilting peeps destash scraps, It gives me the opportunity to play with some fabrics I never would have purchased on my own! 

To attach the circles, I'm doing that method where you use interfacing and sew the fabric and interfacing together, then cut it and flip. I did a poor job of describing it - if you're looking for the tutorial I learned from, you can find it here. I normally don't like doing little hand stitching that much, but I've been really enjoying trying to make my stitches line up half-way decently. I'm day-dreamining about what this quilt will look like when it's finished. I'm so excited that I've finally delved into this awesome way of showcasing small scraps of fabric while still leaving such a powerful impact!

While we're at it, it's officially Thanksgiving, and I have so much to be thankful for. I know I could go on for so long about all the things I've been blessed with, but here are the highlights of what I'm thankful for:
- My ever-supportive parents.
- My loving, long-suffering boyfriend.
- My best friend who understands me on a whole different level.

- The fast friends I have made through the online sewing community.

- Having a space to sew and leave my fabric all around.
- Finding my sweet dog and being able to afford to give him a good home.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by people you care about.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. 

Until next time.

A New Addition

Hello, Everyone.

My posts have been so delayed. I have a good reason this time. I've been getting used to a new addition. My boyfriend and I recently adopted a sweet old Cocker Spaniel named Wallace. He is 7 years old, he has lots of allergies, and has recently had a small surgery to remove a mass on his leg. He is my very first dog. I know it might seem silly to some of you long-time pet owners, but I feel like this is such an emotionally taxing time.

I've never understood people's attachments to their animals, and now it all makes sense. I've honestly lost a lot of sleep over the past week or so, because I've been worried about him. I wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning to check on him and make sure he's okay. When I can't see him, I look around all panicky to make sure he's safe. I even want to add jingle bells to his collar so I can have a sense for where he is in the apartment when my eyes are closed.

I know these are all concerns I don't need to have. He's an old dog, he just likes to sit, sleep and be pet. He came to us house-broken and with excellent manners. He does not bark, he does not jump, he doesn't climb on furniture, he doesn't chew things, he doesn't bark at other dogs.... He's such an outstanding addition to my life. Especially because I'm pretty jittery around dogs. I can't even imagine loving another animal. He's it, the perfect dog; and it breaks my heart knowing another family left him.

It's been an interesting transition, because as I mentioned, he had a small surgery, so there's been a lot going on in his life. We're trying to determine what he is allergic too, and trying to find a doggy food that he enjoys. We have to give him medicated baths twice a week for the next month or so, and so I got to experience bathing a dog (a very good dog, by the way, who doesn't move at all and lets us wash him quite contentedly). I can't be as selfish with my time either. After work, I have to come up, and I have to take him on a walk. This morning, I realized that part of the surgery area on his leg had re-opened after the doctor took his stitches out, so we took him back to the doctor, and they prescribed the cone of shame. So I'm getting to learn about how when dogs wear cones, they walk into doors, and walls and basically everything else. But he's such a great dog, he doesn't complain or try and get it off.

I think the best part about Wallace is just experiencing how much he loves. He's only been with us about a week, and already he's so happy when I come home. He wants to sit near me, and he wants me to pet him. When I'm in the craft room sewing, he comes in and lays down, because he wants to be near me.

I was so worried about brining him into the craft room, especially since I was sorting scraps, but I quickly discovered he totally loves fabric. He doesn't chew them or try and eat them, instead, he likes to bury his nose in them and use them as pillows.

So, everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Wallace.

You can find additional pictures of my doggy on my IG feed: elisabew

I'll be back to posting regularly again starting Monday.