Wednesday, February 11, 2015

WIP Wednesday!


The whole place is trashed!  I normally try to keep my sewing stuff to the left side of the dining room table, but I just have so many things going that I've migrated to the right.  Family may not get a decent meal here until I leave for QuiltCon.

I've been sewing up some new clothes.  I know I don't really need any more, but it's kind of fun to make clothes where you'll be around people that will really get it.  And any excuse to buy fabric is a good excuse.

So far I've done one horrible muslin and scrapped that entire pattern.  Then I went back to the old standby, the Washi Dress.  One needs a hem, and one is finished.  I just have that Brambleberry Ridge fabric in the back there to go.  I'm thinking of adding some short sleeves to it, just so they aren't all complete duplicates.

And, I've thrown together a lanyard and a new business card holder.  I'm debating whether I should make a new bag for Con, or just reuse one of the many I've already made.  For now, I'll wait, but if I get the itch, I may end up elbows deep in interfacing in the middle of the night.


And when I'm not sewing these days, I've been working on this Corvallis Cardigan for my son.  He's pretty excited about it and keeps checking in on my progress, but I'm so BORED of it!  He just wanted a green sweater, so there's no stripes or color-changing yarn to keep me interested.  And I realized too late that I should have put something in, a cable or an interesting stitch, but I didn't.

I think at this point, I'm so close I just have to finish and remember for the next time.  I'm so close to the bottom ribbing and then it's just sleeves.  (Thank goodness this pattern has you knit the button band as you go, so that's one less step between me and finished!)

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday and Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Moonlit Layers of Charm Quilt with the Fat Quarter Shop


I got an email a few months back from the Fat Quarter Shop to try out one of their new patterns.  I of course said yes.  I picked out a layer cake of Rashida Coleman Hale's Moonlit and an icy blue Bella Solids charm pack, then commenced some very secret sewing.


The pattern is called Layers of Charm (aw!) and you use one layer cake and one charm pack to make it.  There's no cutting fabric, just sew charm to layer and trim.  It went really fast and then I got to do the fun quilting part.


One of the great things about this quilt is that it's such a big blank palette for quilting!  I loaded it up in the long arm thinking I would do some graffiti quilting, then had second guessing time where I pondered all the other ways I could quilt, then eventually went back to the graffiti.  It's so much fun, and kind of like a crossword puzzle for quilters because of the thinking that goes into it.  I love doing it.


I've been cuddling under this quilt for a while.  It's so fun to look at, because the quilting looks so different in all the big squares, some really highlight the quilting, and some squares let the fabric take focus.  Every time I use it, I find something new to love.


For the back, I pulled out my stash of Ikea Britten Nummer.  I found it in a store last summer and rationalized buying ten yards.  This was the first time I convinced myself to pull it out.  It's a pretty thin fabric, but very silky, so the quilt is more for summer night cuddling rather than winter polar vortex cuddling, but I do it anyway.


And the binding is super scrappy, cut from a handful of Cotton and steel fat quarters I had in my stash.  So many seams, but it's so fun.


Puppy is also a fan.

Go check out the Fat Quarter Shop's video to get the pattern!  And hop around to see all the pretty quilts!

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday and Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!