I'm NOT bragging - but no one in my real life will appreciate this

Okay - I have totally not blogged lately - lame I know

But-----I'm signed up for the Weekend Sewing in Palm Springs in January with the super amazing Heather Ross!

But------ I'm SHAKING!!!  She just emailed us to tell us who is coming as the Fabulous Guest Teacher.....................................................AAAAAHHHHH

It's ANNA MARIA HORNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so going to have to finish this chair(it's looked like this for almost 7 months!)

I am flipping out like never before.  This one will be up there people, right alongside the wedding and the kids.  Call me crazy, but I am so darn ecstatic.  Best Christmas Present EVER!!!!!!!!!!

Please know, that seriously no one in my "real" life gets this, so I had to share.

I think I will go out and go through my HR and AMH Bohemian stash and get some ready for a giveaway.  I mean I feel like I have to say thank you to the universe in some way.  So next post will be super RAD! 

Thanks!
Rave

Queen Size City Weekend

Woohoo!!!  Finally finished sewing the binding on the back side.  That took forever.  But I am so so so so very happy to sleep under a homemade (by me) quilt!!

 I way over estimated the size and didn't actually measure accurately, so this thing is seriously verging on being a king size!  I did a hack job quilting it.  Some of the lines have some super duper bad puckers.  I knew I just wanted this done and on the bed.  I have all my AMH voile cut and half sashed for a queen size quilt that I'm planning on free motion quilting.  I will definitely be taking my time on that one and quilting it with grace rather than speed.

I was planning on making some pillowcases to go with the quilt, but now that I can just hide the pillows, I'm not sure what I'll do with it.......

And I did get some of the City Weekend knit fabric.  I'm not sure what to do with it, and it is way softer than anything else I have, so I'm scared to cut it.   The white fabric came in my Heather Ross Studio Sale box, and is equally as precious and hard to cut into.  I am currently trying to swap for some more.  It is a sickness.

Also, I totally chopped all my hair off!  It was pretty crazy.  I do it every 3 years and donate it to Locks of Love.  I donated 12" and I'm pretty sure she chopped another 3" off.  Eeeek!  I feel so much lighter!

Also, this past Sunday, there was a Harvest Festival for the Santa Barbara Birth Center.  It was so fun!  It was the first fundraiser in the official location.  They signed the lease just a month ago.  I hosted a "quilting room."  Really I just painted kids hands and stamped them onto some PFD.  They stamped their names next to it.  It should turn out really cute when I sew them all together.  I think I'll mix in fabrics based on the colors of the rooms(to be determined). 

     I made a pillow for my mom out of my kids hand prints and have to make another one for my MIL for next week.  I will try to take pics of the process because it was insanely easy to make, and it would be a cute pillow for the holidays - especially if you are going along with Erin at House on Hill Road and making a pillow.

At the festival, I sold a quite a few things.  It was so exciting to have my things well received, and to make some money.  I donated 10% of my sales, and I met some insanely cool people.  All in all, a great day!

New Clothes for the Boy

This post could also be titled "What I Really Wanted To Do During KCWC"

Neck facing and collar - Nature Walk Tunic

I made this Nature Walk Tunic for my boy out of some Rocket ship fabric and some super soft shot cotton.  I made it for his 4th birthday, woke up at 3 am to finish it for that day.  He started crying that he hated it before he even had it on.  Yay for my happy warm feelings being squashed!  So much for the sensitivity of 4 year old boys.  He'll get more guilt from me as we all get older - I'm sure of it!

Next I made some shorts from the Sketchbook Shirt and shorts pattern.  Brown linen, maybe some rayon mixed in(Joann Remnant Bin) so I'm not sure :)   SO easy and soft and comfy and he LOVES them.   Waaay better reception than the tunic.  Warm happy feeling is back!

And then I made another pair of Sandbox pants with Echino pockets - my absolute favorite thing right now.  And the boy loves them as well.  They are really man-pri/ short pants.  I was going to cut these and make shorts since I was short some fabric lengthwise.  I waited until I finished them and hemmed them to see how long they really were, and they were long enough!  Sweet.  I love these a lot.  They are a total mish-mash.

I used an upholstery fabric that was bought years ago.  I used some ruler printed twill tape for a size tag.  I love it!  It was a scrap that had 4 on it, so I used it.    I think I will be making these pants until he hates them.  They are so easy to make, now that I've made a few.  Such a bummer this pattern is out of print.  If you can find it, get it.  I think I will try making a girly pair soon.
:)

Orange and Grey Snail Sampler (Sort of)

I've been working on this one for a bit and I'm so in love with it.  I'm fairly certain this will end up a twin size for my boy.  My main print fabric is the peach snail from Heather Ross' Far Far Away line.  The rest are a bunch of orange, peach, and grey Kona cottons.  I LOVE THIS QUILT!!!!

 I love learning more "things" with each quilt I make - ya know?  I love knowing how to do wonky stars.  Knowledge I never knew I needed!  I think I will add another border in coal, and then maybe another orange border and be done.  Not sure how to quilt it....  I just love how funky and weird the colors are, but I really feel like it's working.

If my Heather Ross Studio Sale box doesn't show up today, I think I will cry......   :(

:)
Raven

Um, fell of the planet for a while



Binding for queen size City Weekend quilt!



So, it has been an interesting few weeks round here.  I've been making a ton of stuff.  Both my son and husband had a birthday.  I tried out a craft show and sort of hated it.  I've been reconsidering the why's and how's of selling.   Really just a bunch of "how much is my time worth?"



     I have come to the conclusion that I like making stuff, but don't like any of the aspects of selling it.  Tags, photos, descriptions, pricing, displays - not a fan of that "stuff."   I will try again at another craft show in November.  I definitely learned a lot about what I did wrong, my display set-up, my location, all that jazz.  I will make the appropriate changes and try again.  I really really really want to not try again, but I've always been a quitter, so I'm going to try to not quit, and see if I get different results.

My other solution is to actually list some items in my etsy shop.  I have had it for years and never listed anything.  I just hate almost every picture I take.  I've had multiple people help me and read almost every online photo tip.  I don't know what it is - except that my fear of bad pics leads me to not take any.  Perhaps this is one of those practice makes perfect situations!

After finishing my son's twin quilt a few months back, I've fallen asleep under it many many nights and love sleeping underneath something I've made.  And so the decision to make a queen size quilt with my fave's from the new City Weekend line.  I added in some Kona Coral, Canary, and Azure, as well as some white sashing.  The City Weekend is so damn soft!!  I finished "straight" line quilting it yesterday - I did speedy rather than slow and nice. There are quite a few minor puckers, but it's for us, so I'm not being picky.  I am quite scared to sew the binding on, both machine and hand aspects.  That's a big ol' quilt!

Big girl and a big quilt!

The back!  She just went and sat down like that! :)

I really just cannot wait to have this finished so that we can start sleeping under it.   I am so excited to be getting this one done!  I must have at least 8 different quilts in progress.  I hope everyone has been well.

I am really looking forward to getting back on track with fall here!!

And spending more time with this little girl -who has given me such a run for it recently- she just gets better and better every day!!

:) Rave

Tuesday and Wednesday of KCWC

Tuesday was spent taping the Lil Blue Boo Hoodie pattern together and tracing size 4T for the boy.  The brown and the red fabric used to be tank tops of mine,  The blue hood used to be a shirt of mine.  The grey fleece and yellow ribbing were in my stash. 

The boy is just in love with it and wants to wear it everyday.  That makes it one of the coolest things ever!!  I, on the other hand, think it's missing something, and I don't know what it is.  The hood is silly big, hence the silly hood pic.  I think without the hood and adding a neck and arm ribbing, this will be a good PJ shirt pattern.  I can see lots being made, and soon, as there are two rotating pairs of PJs for the boy.

As for Thursday's hour to sew for the kids, it didn't happen.  I received a phone call from my local sewing machine store.  They have a booth this weekend at the Coastal Quilt Guild's Quilt Show and forgot to procure some quilts to hang in the booth.  So they called me and asked me to bring some down for them to hang.  UM WHAT!?!?!  I was beyond flattered, immediately washed all the bed quilts, and brought them down to the store last night.  I also brought a few baby quilts and bags for sale.  I am still so shocked they called me.  Such an honor really.  I had to work on getting everything together for that instead of sewing for the kids.........totally excusable in my opinion.  Hopefully I will get some decent pictures when I go on Saturday.   I am so nervous to have MY stuff in the same building as quilts from the Coastal Guild.  We're talking insanely talented people that have been doing this for years and years. Freaking out now :)

Happy Friday!! 

Monday of Kids Clothing Week Challenge

Reality - I had no time to sew yesterday and did all this sewing from about 4am to around 5:30am this morning because I couldn't sleep.  It's both a blessing (quiet me time) and a curse (I'm so damn tired)

Anywhoo - I had these Lil Leggings all cut out and ready to sew.  So I did.   I just love love love the orange and flower print.  They fit okay.  I should bump the rise up for diapers.  The yellow is a light wide rib knit and the blue is a fleece.  I only finished the blue pants, and the other two are raw edge.  I do zig zag the tails down at the ankle though.  I had bought some lycra mix fabrics a while ago, so I've been using it for the waist bands.  I've probably made 15 pairs of these and am really just starting to feel like they are coming out decent.  I've always hated practice, but it really does pay off.  I've also started topstiching the waistband.  I like they way it looks, somehow makes up for the messy raw edge, ya know?

 

I am really in love with these pants.  They are so comfy and so easy to make.  I actually would have two more pairs to show you, but I sewed them together wrong (because I have the directions memorized, right?) so now I have 4 right legs instead of 2 more pairs.  Thank goodness I have the fabric to make 4 left legs, huh?  :)  Ah, directions really are helpful, aren't they......

Off to work on my Tuesday stuff.  I'm starting to think I do well under the "deadline" of the timer on my phone.  I really have noticed I work a little smarter/less distracted if the timer is on.

  Hmmmm.....

Sandbox Pants

I've been meaning to make these for a while.  Sandbox Pants from Oliver & S.  Finally, my son now has a pair of pants that aren't capris!

He's grown so much recently, all his pants are way too short.  I think this pattern is rated a one scissor, and it really is that easy.  I screwed up the waistband by fussy cutting the cars totally wrong.  I completely forgot that the waistband was to be folded in half.  Doh!  At least the fussy cut car pockets came out great.  Oh, and no buttonholes on the back pockets.  I'm just not a fan........(lazy).   :)

I really love the way they came out.  For the main part I used ticking I had bought forever ago at a local home dec. store.   I think the Echino cars go great with it.  My goal lately has been to try and make the kids more clothes.  While it is sooooooo much cheaper to go to Old Navy or Target, I just love one-of-a-kind things so much.  And I love spending time making them things......

I plan on participating in Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge, so hopefully I can get a few more pairs of these made.  I already have the main fabric cut for a pair of shorts.  I'm thinking I'll do another Echino fabric for the pockets.

Aaaaahhhh, another Monday - they come on so soon., don't they......

And the winner is.......

 #27  Janey.   Congrats!

Also, I would like to say thank you again to everyone who donated.  Even though there were 604 comments left, many of you donated more than $5, so the total amount raised was around $750.  That is so damn cool! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Some More Winners - I'm a little late :)

I avoid all responsibilities (except with the kids).  Sooooooooo, forgive me for not picking winners along the way.  
Here are the winners of the County Fair bundles.

The reds go to  #193 Megan

The blues are for #287 - The Sterks

The Anna Maria Horner "Bohemian" is for #361 Simply Ec

and the Heather Ross "Mendocino" is for #393 Miss M

This is just too much fun!

And it's Auntie Scoobie's birthday today.  She is only getting pictures of her quilt for her birthday.  She'll have to wait until I have a moment to mail it!! XOXO  love you auntie Scoobs!!

My Treadle Serger

or Why I Want To Win A Serger From Sew Mama Sew

That's my treadle serger, buried under stuff :)
I won't be home in time to take a regular pic before the deadline!

I bought my serger used.  I've had it since early 2008 and have only been using it on a regular basis for about a year now.  It is a Pfaff, like my regular machine.  I just absolutely love using it and learning to sew knits has been very exciting.  But it has a little issue that has forced me to name it the "treadle serger."  I know, I know, not for real, but it can be such a pain in the rear to use. 

It has this little sensor thingie that won't let you sew if it is not fully pressed in.  It is connected to closing the front "door" after threading.  So depending on what I'm sewing, I will have to whack the side of the machine and sort of pump the food pedal in order to get it to go.  I can't just close the door and hold it, I have to whack it over and over again.  It is quite ridiculous.   If you saw me sewing with my serger, you would laugh.  There are curse words flying out of my mouth as I consistently slap the machine.  And my foot really moves as if I were sewing on a treadle. 

I have tried to fix it by making the sensor button thingie longer- I took some blue tape and smooshed it into a little ball and then taped on the end of the sensor.  It works most of the time, but the tape flattens out after a while and I have to make a new little tape ball. 

I really want to start selling more kids clothes and contributing to the family bank account instead of just draining it, ya know.  A new serger would be supreme!!  Treadle serging takes a bit longer than regular serging, so I would be able to whip stuff out soooooo much faster.

Crossing my fingers!!

Road Trip

Oh Fransson- New Wave quilt - almost done

Been trying to finish some things before our/my big road trip from Santa Barbara to Canada.  It's going to be a long drive.  We don't really go to Canada, but you can see Victoria from my Gramma's living room window in Port Angeles, WA.  I think it's close enough to say we are going to Canada.  Hehehe.

My first stars ever - we shall see how this one goes......

 Me and a 3 3/4 year old and a 1 1/2 year old.  Woohoo........  Let's all hope I don't lose it.  I've been trying to change my attitude towards this trip, trying reallllllly hard.  If you want memories with the kids, you have to make an effort to make memories with the kids - this is my mantra for the trip.

I am bringing a featherweight and a crap-ton of fabric, lots of WIPs, and a bunch of bindings to sew on.  I will also buy as much fabric as possible, because Portland and Seattle have some rad offerings.  I cannot wait!!!  My twin sisters are both in Seattle, so that will be fun to see them (eat at Blue Dog Kitchen - they both work there!!)

Can't wait to be in the northwest.  I think it might be my favorite place.  I am so in love with Portland and Seattle!  And everywhere in between.

I am so grateful to all the donations.  I can't tell you how awesome it is to help out something I feel strongly about.  And the birth center needs to be opened.  Our town needs it!  Thank you so very much and I will pick fabric winners and mail everything out when I get back.   I was told that a lot of people donated more than the $5.  So cool!!
:)

Longtitude Quilt

RAFFLE POST HERE:  Featherweight Raffle Page

This quilt was made from the rest of my Old Red Barn Co original quilt - along blocks and scraps.  It's all Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt with some white sashing and bound in a Kona Orange.  I backed it with this awesome world fabric.  I have an obsession with maps and atlas' of any sort, so when I saw this fabric I had to have it.  It matched the front pretty well, so I went with it.  I think it makes a nice baby boy quilt.

If I had quilted it the other way, it would have been called the Latitude quilt.  Heeheehee.  I know, well thought out title, huh?  :)

It measures 46"x39"

I think this might be my first one for sale.......I'm sure someone I know will get pregnant with a boy soon.  Maybe I should just put it aside and wait.

:)

Santa Barbara Modern Quilt Guild Challenge

Please click here for the Featherweight Raffle Post

At our June meeting of the Santa Barbara Modern Quilt Guild, we all purchased a bundle of fabric.  All the bundles had the same fabric(one exception/2 colors) and we all had to make something around the 15" by 15" size for the July meeting.  We didn't have to finish, but some did.  There were some awesome variations and I think we were all a little challenged to have fabrics "forced" upon us.  For me, it was amazing and so fun to see what other quilters "see" in the same fabrics

Here are the fabrics ( yes, that IS a velveteen)

It took me a while to embrace these fabrics.......I definitely cursed them a few times.  What?  Velveteen and sateen-y purple.  Weird brown ovals?  Red and white?   

But I love the result - my very first Dresden!  I even did some fancy math to figure out how to get the green stem in there.  It's sort of a flower!  I finished the back with the left-over scraps for an envelope closure  :)

Here are some of the others:

Aren't those cool! 

Another Dresden and "dream big"

The white in the center square(left) is all cut from the center of the red/white fabric!  I know!  Cut out and sewn together - no bigger than 1" squares!  RAD!

Another member and I picked out 4 new fabrics yesterday, for the August meeting.  It should be fun!  It's hard to pick fabrics with another person, yet it is so interesting to see how we all choose fabrics and coordinates based on different things.