The $1700 Quilt

This is the school auction quilt that my dear friend Alissa and I made.  It came out way way way better than either of us could have imagined.  And while we thought we were being a little selfish in hoping to bring in around $700-$1000, the final bid of $1700 literally had us both in tears.  I had never been to an auction - they really are exciting.  You cannot help but get into it!  And just listening to the price go up and up and up was so flipping awesome!

Everything to make this quilt came from my stash.  The background, backing and binding are all Denyse Schmidt County Fair home dec weight.  The trunk of the tree is actually the reverse of a really ugly batik.  A few of the hands are batiks, but most are different Kona greens, with a Shot Cotton thrown in for good  measure.

All of the kids at school had their hand traced by Alissa onto the lighter weight Heat N Bond.  We then ironed random hands onto the green fabrics and Alissa stamped each child's full name onto their hand.  It was a heat set fabric stamp pad (Versacraft?).   I stamped two of the hands and was very glad to leave this job up to Alissa.  She also cut out all the hands.   Just not my cup of tea........Thanks Alissa!!

After the trunk was ironed down, I sewed crazy all over it to secure it and to make it look more like a tree trunk.  I tried to throw some knots in there.  Then we started placing hands all over and ironing them down.  We then zigzagged around every single hand.  Yes, we zigzagged. around. every. single. hand................................

Used a bit of twill tape sewn down for the ropes on the swing.  The two birdies on the swing are the director and assistant director of our daycare co-op.  We asked for their favorite colors and then stamped their names on to their bird.

After we sandwiched the quilt, I free motion quilted the empty spaces of the branches.  I was very worried about making the quilt too stiff -with all the fusible stuff already in there.  For the background, I just sort of echo-quilted the trunk shape.  The name of our school.......The Oaks.  I mean for real - could we have really done anything other than a tree?

Glad we were able to get the year in there somehow :)

Alissa and I also stamped our initials onto the trunk of the tree, sort of like we had carved them in.

You can barely see them in the pic below, sort of red on the brown.  There is a heart in front of our initials also.

So that is our auction quilt!  We were insanely proud of what we made and have no idea how we are ever going to top this one next year......

Monday Stacks - One for me, One for you :)

Okay, Monday Stacks are just as good as Sunday Stacks! 

Really - an extra day to sit is better.....right? 

 Brown and Cream Matroyshkas from Heather Ross, 2 Kona solids, and 4 shot cottons

I think it would make for a cute little girl quilt.

Oh, what's this?  Some Bohemian from Anna Maria Horner?

FOR YOU!!

Oh, this is the one for you!

As it is my birthday today.....I would like to give you a gift.

I have decided "I like to give gifts on my birthday, to celebrate the day I was born"

So, for one of you, this lovely bundle of Boho!

I was sort of speedy with my cuts, but there are approximately 9 yards or so here.

So, in order to win this, please leave me a comment with your best birthday memory ever.

I will close the comments next Monday 2/28.

Also, that funny little quote I have up there is from a modern children's book.  If anyone can guess the name of the book, I have a little mini bundle for you.  It's my most favorite book right now!! 

Name that book!

My friend and I worked on an auction quilt all weekend, it's amazing!  Hopefully some pictures soon.

Tonight, I'll be hanging out with my Modern Quilt Guild.  Yep, quilt guild meeting for my birthday.  It sounds funny, but I'm actually excited.  If you had told me 10 years ago how I would be spending 31st birthday at a quilt meeting, I would have laughed in your face.  But here I am and I love it!!

xo, Raven :)

{this moment} - fabric stacks?

A Friday ritual(sort of). A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

from SouleMama

The Pillow Quilt (WORDY Wednesday)

First and most importantly - all your comments made for the BEST Sunday morning ever!!!!!  I seriously had the biggest smile on my face!  I feel soooooo much less nervous now- THANKS!!   As I tried explaining to my husband why I was so happy, he looked at me and said "You are giving away how much fabric?  And this is the person you are meeting this weekend, yet your giving her fabric away?"    He doesn't get it! 

Yes, I am giving away a good chunk of fabric, but percentage wise, it's not so much.  I have an 18 gallon tub of "usable" Heather Ross.  I have a small bin with FQs of all.  That's my fire bin.  Hahaha, how embarrassing, but yes.  We have had two major fires nearby in the last few years.  After my first evacuation, I realized that I would be devastated to lose this fabric.  Is that sick?  All the kid pics are on the computer.  I grabbed the paperwork we needed.  What else?  I decided after that first evacuation that a little Fabric Fire Bin would be a good idea.  I seriously cannot believe I'm admitting to this!  It does sound a little shallow.  Of course, watching the aftermath of people losing everything makes you realize it really is just "stuff."   And I have a lot of stuff!  So, rather than have it sit in a bin- I could never use it all-I would rather share it.  I'm trying to be less "greedy" with my fabric.  I really don't need a yard of every colorway of every fabric I like.  I've learned that it really doesn't make my life better.  But, one of you will really appreciate that 11.75 yards of fabric way more that I appreciate my 18 gallon tub.  Sad, isn't it?  I really want to change that about me.  I really need to learn some gratitude. I was raised spoiled, and have outgrown a lot of it, but the "want stuff" part really lingers on!

Alright, a little ramble-y this morning......

About this quilt....a thrift store find!

I literally about fell when I saw it!  Have you ever seen anything like it?  I'm calling it the Pillow Quilt, as it is literally, a bunch of little (3.5"-4") pillows hand sewn together.  I guess it would be whipstiched together?  I would call this a small twin.  It's apx. 63"x 88" and  16 pillows x 22 pillows  I am fairly certain the pillows are machine stitched.

It's crazy well made.  

How did I know this?   I know it was not smart, but I put it in the washing machine.  I just had so much faith  that it would survive a cycle, on delicate of course.  Man, I did have some nervous tummy butterflies for that 46 minutes!  I can't explain it, but I just felt such a connection to this quilt.  It could just tell that it was strong.  I know.  I know  My husband has reminded me.  It's just a quilt.

 

But SEE!! I was right!  It made it.  I dried it in the dryer too!  I know, seriously, I did.  It's awesome!  So, since it survived and has been with us for approximately 2 months now, I have really had a chance to bond with it.  It's so great, people!  I had it on my daughter's toddler bed, folded in half, during the "cold" spell here in CA. 

I have officially decided I want to make one, but it's going to take forever.  I went a deep and thoughtful and (hormonally) decided that each little pillow is going to represent something in my life, something major for me.  And so it will be my life in a quilt, if you will.  

There will definitely be a pillow for this coming weekend(Aaaaahhhhh, freaking out), one for the wedding, one for each birth(2),  some for sad things and some for happy things.  You know, how life is.

Maybe I'll use one of Atlas' old shirts for his birth "pillow." Lila's munki jumper that's almost worn out for her birth "pillow."  A piece of the totally worn out black pants that I decided last week I could no longer wear in public, that I also wore to my Vegas wedding, will be for the wedding "pillow."   The two rejected color 5" Mendocino squares that I received from HR in the studio sale last year will be her "pillow."

Isn't that what quilts are?  They are all the quilter.  It really doesn't matter whether or not the receiver loves it or hates it, does it?  It's always better when it's well received, but it's all about the making.

I never learned to appreciate"the process" when I was younger.  I think that this is something I will make sure my kids have instilled in them.  I have no idea how to do this, but we'll learn together. 

Okay....That was a long one!  If you made it here, a sincere thanks for taking it all in!  It does feel good to share a bit more about myself after all the great comments!  Thanks for the nudge Brooke!

Sunday Stacks - One for me, One for you :)

Sunday stacks- this one's mine.  I've been adding to and taking from this pile for almost 1 1/2 years.  Hmmmm, maybe I should get a round to making a quilt with it.......

It's orange, brown, yellow, with some almost reds and hints of pinks.  I especially love the Amy Butler Coriander and the Moda Lush in there! (Top left two fabrics)

And this loverly stack of Heather Ross- well this one is for you!

25 different prints!  11.75 yards of fabric.   

Those are yard cuts on the right, 1/2 yard cuts in front of my toes, and FQs at the top

WINNER GETS ALL!!

I love Heather Ross.  I will be meeting her next Friday afternoon.  I am so crazy nervous.  Not so much about meeting her, but more being out of my element, away from my everyday norm, around a bunch of "strangers" (can I describe them as strangers if they love sewing and HR as much as I do?)  I have never left my kids overnight, let alone for a whole weekend.  I will be 5 hours away from them!  I had to change from a shared room to a single room so as not to scare my roomie with my bawling about missing my kids.  I thought it better to play it safe and not frighten anyone.  Hopefully, if I state my nerves here, they won't show up when I get to the hotel, right?.  What if I'm introduced to Heather and start crying?  No really, this has played out in my head.  My "sewing" is so intertwined with me having kids and dealing with Post-partem depression and figuring out what to do with my life, so it's not like I'm just meeting someone who designs fabric and had a sewing book published, I'm meeting someone who has had a major flippin impact on my life, ya know?  I feel like my entire sewing life would not exist were it not for HR, her fabrics, and her book.    Okay, a little over dramatic......but if you knew me in real life.........that's me!

Oh, and just wait for my post about how I love  Anna Maria Horner.  It's all about hormones and breastfeeding and how I used to utterly detest her fabrics (not any more).  I am very convinced that I will cry when I meet her.

And finally, I actually have sewn something in the recent past.  This quilt is just waiting patiently for the binding to be sewn on.  I did not like it as I was making the blocks, but now I am so in love with this one!  I've been doing a ton of hand sewing with felt- toys for the kids.  I'll get some pics of those- so fun!

FOR THE GIVEAWAY
1. Leave a comment.  Let me know something about you, about your sewing, about your kids, pets, life, car, neighbor, anything really.

2. Become a follower.


I will leave the comments open until I get back from my "Weekend Sewing" (closing 1/24)

Good Luck and Happy Sunday!!

Singer Featherweight Raffle Preview - Prizes and Rules

Please don't leave entry comments on this post. 

 Leave them here:  OFFICIAL ENTRY PAGE

There she is....... :)

This is a preview of the prizes I will be raffling off.  I want to raise money for the Santa Barbara Birth Center and the midwives who are trying to open the facility.  The help they gave me during my miscarriage is priceless.  My way of saying thank you to them is to raffle off one of my dear Featherweight sewing machines and a bunch of my hard-to-find and out-of-print fabric.  If I sewed everyday, all day, for the rest of my life, I still don't think I would be able to use all my fabric.  It should be getting chopped and sewed, not sitting in a bin in the dark..........

TO ENTER: you will need to go to the Santa Barbara Birth Center website and donate $1 to $5.  In the comments section on the donation/paypal page, please state that your donation is for "Baby August/Oversewn". 

 After your donation is made, please return to the Official Raffle Post (NOT this post) and LEAVE A COMMENT FOR EACH DOLLAR DONATED.  If you donated 3 dollars, leave 3 comments.  Please put 1/3 in your first comment, 2/3 in your second comment and 3/3 on your third comment.  MAKE SURE I CAN CONTACT YOU IN SOME WAY!!   If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you leave your email in each of your entry comments.   I would hate for someone to donate and enter and win - but then lose because I can't contact you.

I intend on keeping the raffle going for the month of August.  I will end it early if an insane amount of money is raised.  I have an idea of what I would like to see donated, so if y'all help me get there sooner, I will close the raffle early.

If you have a blog and would like to help spread the word that way, you may post about my raffle.  If you do this, please leave an extra comment stating that you blogged about it, with a link.  This will earn an extra entry into the raffle.

I have no official affiliation with the Birth Center, other than wanting it to be open and running in case I ever have another baby :)   I do have contact with the director of the center, so I will be confirming that winners have donated money. 

Awesome green case- very sturdy!

See the little pin marks -  still gorgeous :)

The Featherweight is the "Grand Prize."  I will give the machine a 9/10 in performance and a 7/10 in appearance.  There are a few pin marks on the front of the machine, but it's still damn cute(below).  Okay, maybe a 7+  :)   I personally cleaned this machine up, oiled and pretty much refurbished the whole thing.  The motor runs great.  It's a fabulous little machine.  I did break the little plastic bit on the motor that holds the belt on.  I replaced it with an "indestructible" piece ordered from Mr. Featherweight himself.  The belt is brand new.  It came with it's original manual.  Not many feet with this one, so I might have to add some from my stash.

  The fabric bundles are "in-between" prizes and will be given away when specific amounts are reached.  The first prize of the Heather Ross book, spool holder, and some quilting stuff will be given to one of the first 150 people to donate and leave a comment.    I will choose someone at random from the first 150 comments.   The next prize might be around 300-400, and so on.  If anyone wins a smaller prize, they will still be eligible to win the Featherweight, but not another fabric prize.   

Heather Ross book and some hand sewing needles

Spool holder, quilt clips and needles, a bunch of Funky Monkey
Lots cut up, and 1.5 yds of the monkey faces

1 yd brown/blue lady bugs- Flutterby
1 yd pink flag things - Flea Market Fancy

Denyse Schmidt, County Fair 1 yard cuts, 8 yards

yellow/blue combo

Denyse Schmidt, County Fair 1 yard cuts, 8 yards
yellow/red combo

Anna Maria Horner's Bohemian - 20 prints, 6 yards

Heather Ross -Mendocino Bundle - 29 prints, 12.5 yards

Heather Ross - Lightening Bugs(some West Hill) - 25 prints, 11.75 yards

FINE PRINT:  Blah, blah, blah - this is me- doing this all on my own.  I simply want to do something good and nice for others and the Birth Center.   If you don't want to donate money - then don't.  If you donate money and don't win a prize - I'm sorry, that's how raffles go.  If you donate money and forget to leave comments on my Official Raffle Post, I'm sorry too, but you didn't follow the rules.   I know it's silly to have to state that, but I just want to cover my bum. 

INTERNATIONAL:  I will pay to ship fabric anywhere.  I can't afford to ship the machine anywhere but the US.  It's just too expensive, and I don't think you can plug it in anyway :)   So if you donate and enter, it will be for the fabric bundles only. 

If you have any questions, please ask!  I know I am scatter-brained.  If I've left anything out, in terms of explanations, please let me know.  Thanks :)  I hope this goes well ....

Far Far Away Quilt, or Fussy Cuts and Unicorn Butts

FFA Quilt Front Vert
Originally uploaded by oversewn

I know, I know, the name is soooooo bad. But as I was fussy cutting all of the full size unicorns into my 6"blocks, I kept ending up with a ton of unicorn butts. So, that's what this quilt is named in my head!

I had so much fun piecing this quilt. I fussy cut all the 6" squares, and then started pieceing all the scraps and unicorn butts together into a few different blocks. The "blocks" weren't really blocks, but whatever fit together. I just kept sewing and cutting. I was sure I was going to slice a fingertip off. Seriously.
After my crazy bit, I threw some of the 6"squares down one side, and then got super duper lazy and threw the big orange and purple chunks on the other side. Hahahaha, I was soooooo done.

The back is the reason I had to add more. I bought this home dec(54") stuff forever ago. I washed it and lost a good 3 inches from the yard total to threads in the dryer. I really wished I had bought 1.5 yds.......hindsight.....

Anywhoooo, I love the back so much. It is the blanket for me! I quilted it by putting one piece of painters tape diagonally across it, and then placed my guide and sort of free handed it, rather than move the tape over and over again,  The opposite direction I did very free form, trying for a line every 4" or so.  I like how soft it is, with the looser quilting (for me) and the double gauze.  And the binding is some Kaffe Fassett stripes and it is almost as soft as the double gauze, I think it's a shot cotton stripe?  I am soooo glad this is a keeper. It's meant to go with my daughter's crib bedding, since I bought her blue bedding. Yes, that is right, I dislike pink, so I bought her this bedding. It's so rad to have something in the house with Denyse Schmidt's name on it. I mean, besides the book.....

Yay for finally cutting into the Far, Far Away.......literally a week before Heather announces that more is coming. Great! We are litterally going broke on account of you, Heather Ross!!! :)

My Final Order - 34 lbs

My final order of fabric is showing up in a few hours. UPS says it's 34 lbs. wow. I feel weird, that is a looooot of fabric. I am very happy with myself as I haven't ordered anything in a week now, not nearly the withdrawals I thought I would be having, but 34 lbs is bad. It is duck cloth, but that hardly makes up for it. But at least I haven't ordered. I have looked and filled shopping carts, but not ordered. The previous sentence is very hard to re-read. I'm crazy! haha Please tell me you do this too, I have not met others, but they must be out there.

There she be! Such an insane deal, I had to buy this much!

OH, the blog is working.....I've finished a few things, and progressed on some others....yay!