coming down the pipeline...

the sewing pipeline, that is, if there is such a thing.

My month for one of my bees.

Still need to make those spider webs...

A birthday gift.

A block for the next CMQG meeting.

Giveaway Day!

A block swap. 

My husband calls me overcommitted (in the nicest possible way) and maybe I am, but having sewing projects with deadlines fills some of the void that was created when I quit my job, but in a much more fun and less lucrative way.

Having nothing to do with sewing whatsoever, here's the guard dog at Cook Mansion.  Can I tell you how much I love living in a town that has a mansion with a guard dog statue?  A lot.

camera dump

Also known as Christmas gifts in April.  But such is what happens when you leave your camera at a far(ish)-away friend's house, and having an extra to use in the meantime (thanks Mom!) means you have no incentive to rush to retrieve it.

The far(ish)-away friend is also mama to my Godson, and though we don't exchange anything huge at Christmastime, I wanted to give them a little something (their gift to us? The puzzle cheese cutters!):

A Dr. Seuss book and matching FP-stenciled shirt for the littler guy--
















And this bag, my first project on my new machine (had to try out the overcast stitches and the letters--kinda small, no?) for his big brother--









 






which held this random assortment for printing:
















We've got our own sunprint kit around here too, just waiting for the right collection of treasures and the perfect bright, lazy day.

sewing a bit of spring

Just a quick project I made for my women's club fundraiser--this tutorial from House on Hill Road, with five bucks to Starbuck's inside.
















Not sure how I feel about the button (it matches, but there's just something I'm not crazy about)...
















but the fabric (and lining) sure felt like spring.

as promised...

What most people would call the guest room, we call Grandma's room.  Other people have stayed in it, but she is our most frequent guest.  Since I try to keep our room relatively gender-neutral, Grandma's room is the landing spot for all things pastel. 

When I was pregnant with Alex, my nesting instinct zeroed in on his room and this room--I was obsessed with tiny details that she probably didn't even notice when she stayed with us after he was born, but they were critical to me.  I'll never forget how I forgot to buy flowers (difficult to do with a newborn and a c-section), and was crushed.

Fast-forward two years.  71 to1, I was the winner of this giveaway from Ashely at Film in the Fridge; in my comment, I thought I'd try a pillow if I won.  This was early in my quilting life.  I didn't have a sewing machine that could handle free motion quilting, and so once I got them in the mail, they sat.

















Fast-forward six months.  A new machine, a first quilt under my belt, and a little courage in my heart since I hadn't inserted a zipper since about 1997--and the blocks are, as promised, a pillow.
















I spent a really long time deciding how to arrange them (which I'm OK with because in the process I came up with another really fun idea), and finally settled on this design, where the centers face up on one side and down on the other.  I think it best spaces the prints, and adds some movement to the front.  I know the actual bento block design doesn't use sashing, but since the quartered blocks weren't switched out with others made of different prints, I liked the way it broke things up.

The sashing and back are Kona muslin, and I tried a kind of longer stipple on the diagonal, to both echo and contrast the design of the blocks.  Ashley was kind enough to include her scraps, and I used them in the pieced binding (with tips from Malka of A Stitch in Dye) and for the back,




















which I love because it's like the butterfly is flying through the pillow.

These photos employ the time-honored blogger photo technique of cropping out the disaster that surrounds the subject.  When you're remodeling the basement, everything has to go somewhere, and somewhere at our house is Grandma's room.  She had to climb over all of this junk as she made her way to bed on a recent visit, but our Grandma is a good Grandma, and she doesn't complain.  Of course, the pillow is hers.

do you know how much time I spend looking for matching socks?

A lot.  Too much.  And pants, and undershirts, and that's just for Alex--I won't even get started on finding an outfit for myself.  My problem isn't having clean clothes, it's having folded clothes, and I've always been this way, and I know I need to work on it, but that's a new year's resolution for 2011.

This year, I resolve to have Alex's clothes ready the night before.

















Originally, I had planned to sew a drawstring bag for every weekday, and to fill them all on Sunday nights.  Might still do that.  Bags (rather than a spot on a chair) because sometimes we get dressed downstairs, after breakfast--easy to lug.  But a bag with a T for starters, because not only can it represent Tuesday or Thursday if I do make the set, but right now, it can also stand for tomorrow...get it?  I knew you would.

(It also doesn't hurt that Alex's favorite letter is T.  He spots Ts everywhere we go...on signs, in arrangements (like if two pretzels fell into a T shape), even on our doors.  Eagle eye, that one.)






















And so, I give you The Tomorrow Bag.  I pushed to finish it during the naptime after a particularly "hectic" morning, which may have resulted in conversations held in a sterner tone that I usually prefer to use.  When I got myself together, we had a talk about independence as it relates to getting dressed, three-year-old style.  And about sleeping in a little bit later, please, it will make Mommy less grumpy, but I don't think that part really sunk in.  To drive it home, I pulled out this book at bedtime, still in heavy rotation even though we're 2-months-plus past Halloween. And when we read the last line (covered by chubby little fingers here: a costume for tomorrow):

















we looked over at his tomorrow bag, filled and hung ready on the closet door,






















 and I think the connection was made.

Tutorial in the sidebar.

the surprise pillow, unveiled

Not only is it "the surprise", but it's also called "the surprise pillow"--just call me the double entendre explainer.

It all turned out OK, but there was some stress at our house the night before SMS Giveaway Day.  The book gift bag was giving me trouble, but I wanted something more substantial than just the gift card holder & supplies...and at about 9:00, "the surprise" came to me.

Thankfully, my saner self took over and I decided not to try to make it that night.  And then I figured out my issue with the book bag, thought of the giving theme, and wrote my post, and all was right in the world.

Once that was done, I had to switch gears back to the blanket, but on Monday I was ready to get back to my sewing machine.  Another bit of stress when I washed it (a reminder to always press seams toward the darker fabric, lest the wet, transparent lighter fabric with red peeking through give the illusion of a fabric bleed, thereby inducing a heart attack), but a little QT with the seam ripper and I was back in business.

Excuse the photo quality; we've had gray dreariness and snow.  It's cuter than it looks here.

Simple, simple.  The front is one tree (à la this quilt) and one tiny maverick star block (I started out with 1 /38" squares), with creamy muslin elsewhere.  I am officially in love with the maverick star block.

I adore the quilting (inspired by this quilt), but the back is where it's at.  I love this print so much that I just ordered more, and so didn't even flinch when I used it for the top panel and the pocket. 

The pocket is the giving part.  The point of the pillow is that it's a secret place to leave surprises in your house for small people (or bigger ones, I suppose!)--a (wrapped, please!) chocolate, a silly note, a penny.  Nothing big, and not necessarily just at Christmas time (I have a whole slew of other-seasoned surprise pillows floating around in my mind), just a little, secret, I'm thinking of you message for someone special.

And that button!

Since there's no way I'm going to finish that quilt before Christmas (a side benefit to making this project, my first quilting endeavor--and man, am I hooked on that now!--, is that I realize that I really do need a walking foot; good thing this guy is little or he'd be pucker central), I think I'll carve out some time to make one for our house.  It'll ease the pain of sending this one away (at least it's going to a good home!), and I know a three-year-old who would love nothing more than scouting for surprises in pockets.  That darling boy of mine!

for baby ben

Our neighbor and friend just had a baby boy, and as soon as he was born (so I knew the sex and the name), I got started on this:

and this:

We had a beautiful day yesterday, so I was able to get outside for some photos (unlike last week when I had to take every picture indoors since the sun was always hiding!).  We were also able to get the Christmas lights on the bushes...which is a good thing since weatherwise, it's apparently all downhill from here.

One more day for the giveaway!

because fabric is prettier than cardboard...

I loved the fabric from Kelli & Rian so much that I couldn't let any of it go to waste.  Here's what I had left...

 after I finished this:

Much better than that glossy folded "case" you get with a gift card.  Tutorial in the sidebar.

Don't forget to check out two more headband posts: reversible and beribboned!

Also, Chipotle (recognize that gift card?  I linked in case you want to buy me one!) is the best food on planet Earth.  And, they're building a new one two blocks from my house.  Big trouble.  At least I'll have to cross a busy street to get there.

good night, gorilla

Maybe it's a little late to be writing about Halloween, but since Alex is still wanting to wear this costume every waking moment, even out of the house, I hope you'll indulge me.

If you have small people at your house, you've probably read this book about sixty-five thousand times.  And you know what I mean when I say that I'm a little disappointed that the final costume didn't include a banana or a balloon, but a zookeeper only has two hands--so we went with the essentials.

The jumpsuit was adapted from the Raggedy Andy version of this pattern.  I shrunk the collar (a little too much, it turned out), lengthened the legs, and added a placket for velcro instead of using a zipper.  I made a tie with a velcro neck strap, and the belt was black cotton webbing with a black clicky buckle (that's a techincal term).  He wore brown topsiders because even though the perfectionist in me said they should be black like the book, the cheapskate in me won out and it turned out to be just fine.

The fun parts: the hat (a post all by itself, but basically I just crossed my fingers while I made it up as I went along--turns out to be my favorite part!), the patches, a flashlight, a stuffed gorilla ($2.50 on clearance!) and a mouse from this pattern...he turned out to be a little bit wonky due to some gauge issues, but nobody seemed to mind.  And the keys.  I love them.  Just felt sandwiched together, stitched, and cut.













Grandma helped me with the finishing touches at the very last minute, and I'd say it was a hit--both because people recognized him as being from GNG and because he still wants to wear it all. the. time.  As Grace mentions here, this is what makes late-night costume crafting worth it: the fun they have with their costumes after Halloween.

anyone up for a vacation?

Really, who isn't?  Before your next trip, think about making one (or a few!) of these--just so you don't forget where home is while you're skiing or relaxing on the beach or roaming the Louvre...and so you can find your luggage when you get off the plane!

Tutorial in the sidebar.  

And don't forget to check out all the terrific scrappy entries in the Scrap Buster Contest over at Sew, Mama, Sew.

Enjoy!