Staying Busy

With quilt forts . . .

Tee Ball . . .

 And Easter . . .

But I've finally gotten a few stitches in this last week!  Lots going on around here during springtime!

Two Rowan Tees

Today I’m sharing my first finishes of the year (from back in January) – two Rowan Tee hoodies.  The pattern is by TitchyThreads, and just like the Small Fry Skinny Jeans pattern, I love this one.  It has a bunch of options, but I made these the same way.  I think it’s a great basic tee pattern with plenty of possibilities depending on your goal. 

I made two hoodies with long sleeves and hemmed sleeves and body and topstitched just about every chance I got – shoulder seams, armhole seams, hood seams, neck seam.  It really made things look nice. 

The girl’s hoodie is a size 8 and is made from some Oliver + S knit I’ve had in the stash for a while.  (Yep, I have some girly fabrics even though I have two boys – sometimes it’s too hard to resist!)  I have no girls to try it out on, but I’ve heard it fits the recipient. 

The boy’s hoodie is a size 6.  The black knit is from a size 2XL t-shirt, and the Star Wars fabric is a quilting cotton.  I got my Sam to try it on (he’s a size 5 right now) and got nervous because it barely fit over his big head and didn’t seem that much too big on him – and he’s a skinny mini.  (Total sidebar - how cute is he?)  I kind of wanted to keep it for him.  But it was destined for a cousin.  Luckily, it appears the hoodie fits said cousin well since he is skinny. 

One note about the woven Star Wars fabric – I think next time I combine the knit and woven, I might make the neckhole a touch bigger, just because the woven doesn’t stretch with the knit and it was hard to get over Sam’s head.  I don’t think it’s the pattern since he has this problem with store-bought hoodies as well, but it’s a thought if you want to go the combination route. 

These were my last (sewn) belated Christmas presents, so I was glad to have them off my back.  But I do love the pattern and have plans and fabric for a Planes version for Sam.  And now I want to make another Star Wars version for my boys since that one turned out so cute. 

Completed Gypsy Wife Quilt

If you’ve kept up, I kind of disappeared after Christmas.  The dang sew-jo just went pfffft and was gone.  But, I’ve been slowly revving it back up during the last couple weeks.  One of the things that has helped me recover it was quilting and binding my Gypsy Wife quilt!  It's been a year since I started (the QAL started last February), and I can pretty much say I enjoyed the entire process.  It's a rare project that doesn't get to the "hate" part of the love-hate-love cycle.  

At first I was waffling on how to quilt it. Originally, horizontal lines.  Then, fancy quilting because I could.  Then, what type of fancy quilting, maybe simple was best.  Then, and I thought this was the winner, ditch quilt the blocks and horizontal lines on the background strips.  That was it.  And then I started quilting. 

The very first line I sewed right over the block (that I was supposed to ditch/outline stitch).  Whoops.  Oh well, that decision was made, and it just meant the quilt was quilted faster.  I am not one to rip out unless it’s really bad. 

It was quilted over a weekend, marking with a hera marker (pretty sweet), and the binding took a week.  I decided to hand bind in case I enter it in the fair.  I’ve been machine binding everything lately, and it is so much faster (if not quite as pretty from the back).  The hand binding has been exceptionally slow, and revealing in that I really do need to find a thimble that works for me.  I've tried several different kinds, but I guess I need to try a few more. 

Love the decision to go with low-volume strips.  This quilt makes me so happy!  The dark plum binding does not photograph true at all (it's really not brownish).  This next photo probably shows it the closest (also in the raccoon block and a couple others).  

Anyways, back to the subject at hand, my beautimous quilt!  I love her!  She is wild and crazy, and I’m so glad to have my own couch quilt.  The star block is probably my favorite, although I love that rainbowtized HST block beside it as well. 

My husband thinks the Amy Butler backing print is “old lady”.  That just goes to show what he knows.  Pattern matching is a pain, but it turned out great.

She's already been snuggled on the couch and makes that sad hand-me-down so much brighter!  

Thanks to Michelle for starting the QAL last year!

Sparkle Punch Baby Quilt

Today I’m sharing my first quilt finish of 2015 – a baby quilt for my nephew.  My sister-in-law is due in March, and I threw her a baby shower a couple weeks ago, so I had to have an awesome gift.  

The pattern is the Sparkle Punch QAL by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh!Fransson.  I started off planning for a 48”x48” quilt, but partway through I was getting tired of the sew, check, press, trim, press, trim for EVERY PIECE OF EVERY BLOCK.  So I changed it to a 36”x48” quilt.  Quicker to finish, and I can use the extra squares for another project.  

The effect of the crazy pressing and trimming is awesome, but the whole obligation sewing thing (even when I am the one deciding on said obligation sewing) combined with my sewing ADD/flakiness was putting me over the edge with this one.  I have something like four new projects I want to start (plus my UFOs), so I wanted to get this one done.  

I was 75% done with the top and had a slump.  A couple nights procrastinating and I finally put on my big girl pants and finished up the top. 

By that time I was on a deadline, so I made this quilt my biotch and finished it up stat.  

I do like the color scheme and the fabrics.  They are mostly new, but I have leftovers to add to the stash.  Can I just say, the steak fabric is freaking awesome, especially since we are a farming family.  It’s from the Farm to Fork collection by Lily Gonzalez-Creed for Windham.  The mustard/gold Glamping dots are pretty nifty as well.  And the Moo fabric is Milk Cow Kitchen by Mary Jane for Moda.  I have some of the feed sack fabric from that collection waiting for the right project.   

**Linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts**

Gypsy Wife QAL - December

It's the final month of the Gypsy Wife quilt along hosted by Michelle at Factotum of Arts.  December's task was to assemble the top.  I think we all underestimated how much time it would take.  I think I spent somewhere between 12-16 hours on it.  Maybe I'm just slow?

But here she is.

I'm not in love with the blue and purple strip on the left, but my laziness is winning so far.  Too much work to swap it for another.

I'm so glad I participated in this quilt along!

2014 in Review

Another year gone.  I decided to make some collages of my projects this year as a way to look back with them all in one place.

This year saw four quilts finished.  My Farmer's Wife quilt (top left) won 1st place at the county fair and 2nd place at the State Fair.  The Momo Baby quilt (bottom right) will be for sale when I get my shop going over the next couple of months.  Two of these were on the UFO list.

I also completed five quilt tops that are patiently awaiting quilting.  Three were UFOs at the beginning of the year.

The Gypsy Wife Quilt Along - tonight I'm working on putting the top together. 

Clothing.  Still working on figuring out my body and the best way to sew for it, but I did better for the kids. 

 And a catchall of randomness.  I built a new sewing table (needs blogging), made doll beds for my cousins (but have no finished pictures!), and made an assortment of other things.  Overall, I had a pretty doggone productive year considering I work full-time.  Here's to a crazy 2015!

Tova #2

The second in the parade of Christmas gifts is this Wiksten Tova top for my sister.  She is in England getting her masters in Museum Studies at University College London, so I had to send this one across the pond. I was afraid it wouldn't arrive in time, but she got her package on Christmas Eve.  What perfect timing. 

I don't have a picture of her in it yet.  It's a straight size XS like her last one (grey birds) and is made from Cotton + Steel fabric.  She says she feels like a painter in it.  I'll say the easing of the sleeves was fantastic this time around.  I tried to take my time and do a good job but of course forgot to put a tag in it.