WIP Wednesday!

So much happening around here, but I think I'm on the home stretch of my crazy crafting!  I finished my knit-for-gifts projects, so I'm starting my second sock!  Can't wait to wear these.  After this I've got a cardigan lined up for the little girl.

Here are the two tops I've got waiting for quilting.  I'm delaying these since my Juki is getting clean, but I should get that back this week so I can knock these out quick.  I've also got another Boston quilt ready to be quilted, but I may just do that on my little machine so I can get it done by the end of the week.

And then there's the Pinkie Pie quilt I posted about yesterday.  That's my fallback project when I get bored of doing the rest of my projects, because there's always squares to sew together!

And these knits are ready to be turned into a shirt (dress if I have enough of the gray) for me, and the bottom will be a couple pairs of Parsley pants for a friend's son.  Luckily, the knit pants sew fast since you don't have to worry about ironing or doing the flat fell seams.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

Pinkie Pie Progress!

This project started off kind of weird.  I fell in love with the Pinkie Pie quilt that Svetlana at S.O.T.A.K. Handmade made, and making one was something that was on my list of things I wanted to accomplish eventually, but I started mentioning it to people and suddenly it was happening.  I love having sewing friends that you can mention craziness to and they just jump in and help make it happen.

So, that up there is a cross stitch pattern for my daughter's favorite My Little Pony, Pinkie Pie.  She's kind of amazing, has an emergency stash of pirate eye patches, and owns a confetti canon.


I know, right?  Amazing! We started raiding stashes for pink fabric, and did a run to Joann's for more pink fabric, because there's SO. MUCH. PINK!  And then we started cutting and piecing.  The squares are 1.5" and finish to 1", so it's going to be a generous twin size quilt.  

Here's a little taste of what we've go so far.  All the crossed off squares are done, so we're almost halfway there.

That's one whole leg!  I love how all the fabrics are playing nicely, and will hide every little stain.  It's for a toddler, stains are her forte.  

This week we'll finish up the tail and cutie mark and then it's just the head and hair!  We'll totally have it done for Christmas!

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday and My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday!

A Boston Quilt Finish!

Finished my Quilt for Boston!  I love getting these quilts because they're all ready to be quilted, and they're all different blocks.  The first one I did, I just quilted loops all over to get it done.

I had a little bit of a problem with this quilt.  I meant to just do a simple all over quilting pattern, but it just begged for something more awesome. And because I wanted to get it done for Friday (an entirely self-imposed deadline) that meant I needed to pull an all-day sew-a-thon!

I started around noon, and finished sewing the binding on at 1 a.m.  Then I hand stitched the binding down while dropping off the dude at school, during a playdate/lunch, and then while picking up the boy from school.  It was my own little sewing speed race.

This is the first block that I did.  So many little spaces for different designs!

I managed to use all the different spaces to practice some things I've never done before, like this pattern my friend Jess rocked in a quilt a while back.  I love all the wavy lines and the strings of pearls.  It really grew on me, and I may have to do this more and in bigger scale on another quilt.

Love this little goldfish.  He needed scales.

I LOVE doing those wavy, echoing lines.  They're so easy once you get the arm motion down, but they pack such a punch!

Here's another block with those wavy lines.  They're the best.  And the figure eights are another really easy, but beautiful pattern.  Love putting them in squares!

I loved this plus sign block.  I think I'm going to have to do a whole quilt of these, because I get a kick out of blocks that make designs when you put them all together.  See how the corner pieces will make more pluses?  Awesome.

And you may have noticed all the pebbles.  I kind of love the look, but hate quilting them because I don't think I'm really good at it yet.  My arms just don't move that way naturally.  So I decided to pebble all my backgrounds and teach myself some muscle memory!  Take that pebbles!  I win!

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!

Late Night Quilting and Impossible Knitting

So I went to load the Boston quilt into my machine and do some easy and quick loops, and this was the first block to quilt. It just looked like it was asking for more than just loops!  So I ended up doing some crazy dense quilting, using all those different blocks to practice some patterns I don't quilt as often. 

I had a lot of fun and just didn't stop until the whole thing was quilted. (Thank goodness for caffeine and kids who don't mind watching tv all afternoon!). Today I'll get the binding sewn on and hopefully post it for Finish It Up Friday tomorrow. 

But before I get back to the sewing, I'm taking a break and working on this möbius cowl. It breaks my head, but is so fun. 

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday!

WIP Wednesday!

So what am I up to on this WIP Wednesday?  Productivity!  Boo-Yeah!

I think the reality of the Christmas countdown really set in, and now I'm just churning out projects like there's no tomorrow!  My goal for the day is to get this quilt finished.  It's one of two Quilts for Boston that I've been pretty lazy about finishing because there's no solid deadline, but I'm going to get them off my stack!

There's also the last bit of knitting to get done before Thanksgiving, and I think I might be able to get that off my needles in the next few days!  Pictures after I give the gifts!

And I splurged (really, $3, woo!) and finally got a loop turner!  I was buying a pile of fabric to turn into pants and saw this next to the elastic.  There's really no excuse for not getting one until now, but I'm pretty excited to never have to fish 1/4" elastic through a waistband with a safety pin ever again!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

A Super Productive Long Weekend!

Finally, just got down to it and got some stuff done over the long weekend!  There's just been a bunch of little things piling up, but I finally started crossing things off.

Like these little snack bags for a friend.  They don't take long, but they just kept getting pushed to the back of my mind.  So I decided to take an afternoon and just do it.

They're two different tutorials.  The ones that lie flat are from this tutorial from Owen's Olivia.  And the stand up ones are from a tutorial at Mauby's.  We use both constantly, so I'm sure they'll get plenty of use.

And I got to use one of my favorite fabrics.  It's from Robert Kaufman.  I love it, but it just never seems like the right project for it, but this is perfect.  I might end up making a few more for myself.

After the bags were so quick and checked of the list, I then finished another gift quilt top, made pants for a friend's kid, tidied the area I've taken over with my sewing in the dining room, and cast on some socks.

Why knit socks?  Because I don't know how.  Can't wait to get these done because they're super warm and I keep trying this one on and loving it.

Here's hoping that the rest of the week is just as productive!

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday!

Another Multi-Tasker Tote!

Finally delivered this bag to a friend who was in desperate need of a new diaper bag.  (I also totally forgot to take pictures of it until I was outside her apartment.  Yay! for camera phones!)  I've had it finished for a while, but I was hung up on a few tweaks to the pattern, and had to stare at the bag for a while while I figured out what to do.

I, of course, used the Multi-Tasker Tote pattern, because it's awesome, and added a couple elastic pockets to the inside.  I switched out the interfacing for fusible fleece because it stands up so much nicer, but isn't super stiff, and outlined the butterflies and flowers in gold thread.

The big tweak was that purple pouch inside.  She wanted a place to pack an extra set of clothes, but she wanted it to be removable.  It seems obvious now to just add a couple buttons to the bag lining and buttonholes to a velcro pouch, but I had too many ideas at first and couldn't settle.  So I just made the whole bag and left it to the end.

My favorite part is the key chain.  I found clip hardware at Joann's and now have to add the strap to every bag I've ever made.

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday!