Never Ever

I never want to  be in this position again! I have to be done with Christmas sewing Thanksgiving weekend and I am way behind!Last year I dedicated the second Sunday of the month to gift sewing and really liked the feeling of accomplishment. Why,oh,why did I not continue with that in 2013???

I have been reading this summer and  quilting with my friends on Mondays. However, I need to get serious about heading into the sewing room after dinner. Time is marching on.

I do have a few finishes to share with you. 15 months ago a cute little kindergarten boy drew a picture for his grandmother.  His mom posted it on Facebook and I immediately knew it had to be made into a  pillow. A great kindergarten memory as he enters second grade! LOL ! I hope Natalie reads this!

During this past year I have been working on a BOM sponsored by Quilter's Quarters in Zephyrhills , FL.

Each month we received a new pattern and two colors in batiks. I am anxious to return south and finish the quilt. You make 9 blocks,keep one, turn 8 in and receive 8 blocks back in different colors. This is a VERY large quilt! Posted below is one of the 108 blocks I have made!

We have frost warnings tonight so I am off to cover the flowers before I head to the sewing machine. I WILL be ready by Thanksmas .

In stitches,
Pieceful

Mini Messenger Bag

Thank you, Pinterest!

I found this wonderful messenger bag tutorial on Pinterest. It led me to to a great blog titled "ocd: obsessive crafting disorder" which I thought was very clever. Head on over and check her out! (Click the word tutorial above to be linked directly)

I found her instructions and pictures very clear to follow and didn't have to take the seam ripper out even once!

Here is the fabric I chose for my mini messenger bag. The print is a heavier home decor weight that I think will hold up well and of course purple for the lining!

You begin by making the flap. She chose to use buttons, but I've opted to use magnetic snaps. (I promise that wrinkle is not nearly as bad as it seems....)

Then you make the lining and the outer bag. I like the way she assembled these by adding the bottom and sides first, then the opposite panel. Other bags I've made has you put the bottom on last, but it always causes me frustration lining up corners. Not a problem with this method! Also she has left the hole for inverting the bag at the bottom of the lining. Again, other bags that I have made leave this at the top of the bag where it is much more noticeable and causes more frustration to have it look 'right' in the end.

Finally, assemble and add the adjustable strap! I forgot to take pictures of this part. It was my first time using adjustable strap hardware, but it was very simple to do! I added a loop with a hook to be able to clip my car keys to.

Stay Tuned

Pieceful and I are going to the state quilt show this weekend! I'm getting very excited but anxious too. The classes I chose will have me learning lots! They are called Vivacious Curvaceous Squares and Life's a Beach (Picture Piecing). I'll share pictures of those later!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Summer Sewing

School's Out.....

for summer! Woohoo! It was a crazy spring with lots of musicals and concerts to keep me me too busy to get much sewing done. I did, however, find some fantastic Riley Blake jelly rolls to make adorable race quilts for two little girls who share the name Anna Grace. So I call these my Anna Grace quilts. Each quilt was the same set of prints, but came out quite differently because the strips were assembled in random order.

I photo documented the jelly roll "race" process. If you haven't tried this yourself, it's a must. Very fun, quick and easy. Missouri Star has a wonderful tutorial on You Tube!

Anna Grace Quilts

Select your material! *note I forgot to take a 'before of the jelly roll...this photo was part way through the sewing process...

Begin  by chain piecing ALL the strips together.

Once you are done it looks like this...fancy! Kidding!

Trim and clip the thread so you have a single 1600 foot long, continuous strip! I have a very helpful hand model (thanks Jon).

Let the race begin! Bring the two ends of your super long strip together and simply sew a 1/4" seam the entire 800 foot length. This first one seems to take forever, but after this time flies. I promise!

Cut the fold that you have created at the end. Now you will have an 800 foot strip that is two strips wide.

Repeat the previous two steps until desired width:

Bring the two ends (now two strips wide) together and stitch down one side.

 Bring the two ends (now four strips wide) together and stitch down one side.

Bring the two ends (now eight strips wide) together and stitch down one side.

Bring the two ends (now sixteen strips wide) together and stitch down one side.

This is where I opted to stop.

I could have layered this as it is since it is a good size for a toddler quilt, but I chose to add a 4" border.

Here is a shot of the backing. I thought is was the perfect compliment to the front. Very cheerful for smiley toddlers!

The part that I am most excited to share is that these are the first quilts that I have quilted entirely by myself! Most everything went quite smoothly (with only one ridiculously, silly WHOOPS that I am too embarrassed to share) right up until about noon-time today. When my trusty Kenmore whom I've been calling 'Bessy' decided to get a bit moody. The second quilt has literally eight inches of quilting and the binding left, but I don't dare try it until Bessy sees a doctor. I'll be making that appointment tomorrow ;) I've really learned a lot making these. And there are spots where that definitely shows in a few places...but I know that they will be well loved and get lots of use!

Stay Tuned

When I get my machine back from being serviced, I will be showing a few small projects that I have on my to-do list. One item is a multipurpose play mat that I am making for a friend who is due in August and the other is a messenger bag for myself!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Bunny Baby Quilt

Jelly Roll

This quilt top was made using the green Bunny Hill jelly roll from Moda. I can't take the credit for choosing it though, Jon picked the material! This is our gift to his sister who is having a baby girl in June. It is a very cute roll as it is very little girl-ish with out being cutesy pink. I used a split rail fence pattern and had it done in an afternoon. 

The backing is a very soft flannel that matched surprisingly well. At first I thought the green would be difficult to find a companion too, but this flannel and the border practically jumped off the shelf!

I sent it out to the AthleticQuilter (thanks again, Kathy!) to be quilted and I love the designs she chose! Dainty flowers over the greens and a nice scroll around the border.

 

 Here is a close up of one of the prints. It was very difficult to capture it without being up close.

Stuffie

Jon also went online and chose a stuffed bunny to go with the gift. I think he did a great job choosing a dark bunny that matches so well. It is also the softest stuffie I have ever felt!!!

Stay Tuned!

My next blog, which is already in progress, will be of two toddler quilts. They are both going to be both jelly roll race quilts of the same prints, but am told that they can come out quite differently! They are for my darling Anna Graces! For those who don't know, two of my best buds (who have never met each other) both had little girls six months apart and both chose the name Anna Grace! So I thought it would be fitting to make them quilts of the same print. One will get hers as a first birthday present, and the other will get hers as a first half-birthday present!

Respectfully,

Harmony

Random Acts of Kindness

Shortly after the Sandy Hook tragedy, I had a chance encounter in the Publix grocery store that afforded  me the opportunity to participate in a Random Act of Kindness. As part of my grocery purchase I was buying  two quilt magazines. The cashier was not busy and we started to chat about quilting. Angela shared that she would love to be able to make a quilt for her 4 year old granddaughter but had neither the time nor the supplies. We continued to talk about what a crazy world we live in and how it is so hard to focus on what is important with all of the sadness in the world. When I returned to the truck I told my husband that I wanted to make a RAK quilt for Angela's granddaughter. Ann Curry had suggested that everyone do twenty- six RAK's in memory of the children and teachers killed at Sandy Hook. I felt this was perfect for one of my twenty-six acts.

Tomorrow I will deliver a small quilt to Angela. I tried to do it today, but she was not working. The quilt is small but very bright and happy. All children deserve bright and happy...

Merry Christmas and a Happy Valentine's Day

Yes, you read the title of the post  right! I am sending off Christmas gifts as February 14th nears! I have finally finished the two strip quilts that I gifted as Christmas presents . The red,black and white quilt was given at out family Thanksmas in Maine and promptly snatched away to be quilted and bound. The brown quilt was gifted to my DIL on Christmas day and then returned to be quilted and bound. I am happy to report that both quilts were  machine quilted by me on my little Janome  720 and I am very pleased with the way they both came out.

Tomorrow is a big day of quilting for me down here in sunny Florida. My friend and I have made arrangements to  have a room opened for a quilting "Sit and Sew" each Thursday. This is something we both participate in "up North" and we both miss it dearly. Can't wait to meet new friends and share ideas here!

This year I am continuing the Second Sunday sewing challenge to work on Christmas gifts throughout the year. Although I didn't finish the quilts posted above completely I did get LOTS done to give for the holidays and all of the quilt piecing was done in that time slot!

Until next time, I hope your days are complete as needle , thread and fabric meet~

Pieceful

Gifts to sew with!

Spoiled Rotten

It's official. I am one lucky gal! I got some wonderful gifts this Christmas to sew with!

My favorite is an extension table for my sewing machine. I use a very trusty older Kenmore, but couldn't find a table that fit. I love when I get to use my Mums and I guess I said so enough times that she surprised me by finding a company that made one to fit my machine! I know that this is what the company specializes in, but I was still shocked at how amazingly well it fit. Like a glove! I also got a sewing machine organizer in an adorable print that she made for me!

I also go material! Good material! From Pieceful (Mum) I got a Bali Pop and quilt pattern and then my boyfriend got me another Bali Pop and two Moda Jelly Rolls!! I was very impressed by this. At Thanksgiving Pieceful and I dragged him to a quilt shop we visit each year and though he was a great sport I thought for sure he had to be miserable. Little did I know he was taking very detailed mental notes of things I 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed over!

Then, to top it all off we did some reorganizing of the apartment. We live in a very small one bedroom. We are both professional musicians and I chose quilting as a hobby. Space is tight. Let me give a you a visual. We currently have five instruments here, we often have up to ten during the summer but right now we can store some in our classrooms. The five instruments we have currently in our apartment are two electric basses, a keyboard, a tuba and and upright string bass. Not exactly compact....Now add to that my sewing supplies. Also not particularly compact. We were busting at the seams! Especially in the kitchen because my sewing machine was living on the table  and instruments in the corners. To cook we had to shuffle materials, machines and instruments around without actually having a place to put them 'away'. The solution? A smaller entertainment unit in the living room which provided more instrument storage. A new shelving unit in the kitchen to hold our cookers (we do a lot of rice cooker, pressure cooker and slow cooker meals due to evening rehearsals). The kitchen table went to storage to make room for the shelving unit, but we bought a light-weight collapsible table that can be easily set up for me to sew on (it's actually bigger than the kitchen table!) but can be tucked away when we don't need it. With the bigger shelving unit, we were able to free up our kitchen cart which is being transformed into my sewing station!! My sewing machine can live inside, along with material for my current project. No more worrying that it will get stained while we are cooking and I can put my machine right on top for sewing quick, small projects! 

I will add more pictures once I actually get it organized, but here is the general idea:

Respectfully,

Harmony