The Travelling PicStitch Bloghop

I can't believe it's already the end of November and my turn to post for the Travelling PicStitch Bloghop! I actually had quite a bit of trouble choosing a picture for this project as I tend to have more pictures of people than landscapes. After auditioning several pictures (including a lovely double portrait of me and a goat at the petting zoo) I came across this picture of Daddo and BabyBrother that the Momcat took on a trip they took out west a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure this picture is from their time in Rocky Mountain National Park.

As I mentioned in my sneak peek post last week, I decided to stick with my favorite English Paper Piecing pattern of Grandmother's Flower Garden. I used 3/4" hexagons from Paper Pieces, which is where I get all of my papers for English Paper Piecing. 

I used two different Stonehenge charm packs for the flower petals and red and white for the centers. I'm not sure how I'll put them all together. I laid them all out together but I'm not sure if it's too much and might not be better with a row of white between each flower. 

I have plenty of pieces left so I'll be able to figure it out-now to just find the time to sew some more flowers! 

This post is part of the Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop.  From 1st October - 30th November we are hopping all over the world EPP-ing in some fantastic locations.  Check out the full list here and be sure to check out the other participants.

On 30th November it's over to you to link up for a chance to win these fabulous prizes!

Sponsored by Paperpieces.com, FabricwormPink Castle Fabrics ,  Marmalade Fabrics, the Fat Quarter Shop, WantItNeedItQuilt, and Aurifil.

Full details for competition entry can be found here.

Sneak Peek-Travelling PicStitch Bloghop

I'm super excited to be participating in my very first blog hop this month! Quokka Quilts has put together two month extravaganza event of blogs using English Paper Piecing to create blocks inspired by photographs. Details are on her Travelling PicStitch Bloghop page, including links to all of the blog participants and discounts from sponsors who specialize in English Paper Piecing supplies.

My day to host the bloghop isn't until November 27, but here's a sneak peek of what I've been working on this month. I can't wait to show the final project!

I'm pretty sure no one will be surprised to see I'm using hexagons. Is there a more perfect English Paper Piecing shape?

Have you ever participated in a bloghop? 

Baby niece baby quilt.

I'm excited to finally share the baby quilt that I made for my niece, the first baby in the family. I actually gave it to her (well to her parents really since she's only 10 months) at Halloween, but didn't get a chance to share the pictures until now. 

I started the quilt just over a year ago when I went back to Omaha to visit the parentals. The Momcat should know by now that anytime I'm standing in her quilting space and start a sentence with "so I was thinking it might be fun to..." that some new project is about to launch. Just ask her about my brilliant idea to make wall hangings for my bridesmaids and a quilt for my new in-laws before my wedding. 

Momcat and I looked through her extensive collection of books and landed on a churn-dash in a straight setting with cornerstones. I'm proud (or somewhat terrified depending on how you look at it) to report that ALL of the fabric in this quilt comes from the Momcat's stash. I like to think I'm doing my part in helping her use fabric so she can buy more. You can thank me later, Daddo. 

I put the Momcat to work, and by the end of my short visit home we had the whole top pieced together, with just the border left to sew on. 

Each block had a fussy cut fairy in the middle of it, with more fairies appearing in the corner stones and in a corresponding print on the backing.

 I worked on the quilt off and on while the N-boy was in Russia. A couple of other projects (Prairie Sewn Companion) kept me busy and out of trouble during this time too. Finally after the N-boy came back and we settled into the Fall semester I set out to finish it in time for the Halloween party.

I'm SUPER proud of how it turned it. This was my first real-project attempt at free motion quilting and it was lots of fun to work on. Except for when my thread kept breaking. That was less fun.  But I"m  happy with it and I hope that niecy-niece loves it.

I did a swirly-loopy-vine in the sashin and pebbling in the cream and gold rectangles in the center. I also did stitch in the ditch to stabilize the whole thing before I started. In the borders I did a simple meander. I got a TON of help and inspiration from the materials on Leah Day's blog. She's an amazing quilter and her videos and blog posts made me positive that I could do this.

It's a little hard to see in this photo, but the back print has fairies in the center with more of the sashing fabric framing it like a picture frame. I used the same pink for both the border and the binding.

 I'm actually looking forward to working on quilting more of the tops that are languishing in my closet now. The free motion quilting wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, and it made me feel really good to get a project that was important to me out the door to its intended recipient.

Hexagons everywhere.

I'm finally starting to feel better after the stomach flu of death earlier this week. Work was a little rough on Wednesday, but after forcing down some more ramen and cherry coke I really started to turn around. I even managed to eat two pieces of pizza at a work event Wednesday evening before coming home and promptly collapsing on the couch. 

Luckily I have the perfect project for sitting on the couch. I didn't have the energy to sit at my machine and quilt for an hour for National Sewing Month, but I did have the energy to hand baste some hexagons. These are for a new project idea I've been working on for Prairie Sewn Companion for fall and winter craft shows.

Do you have go to projects for when you're low on energy? 

National Sewing Month

So apparently it's National Sewing Month. 

I'll be honest, I didn't actually know that there WAS a national sewing month until I read about it on Bonnie Hunter's blog. Bonnie is using this month to get to work on some of her languishing hand sewing projects. Oddly enough, I haven't had any problems working on hand sewing hexagons lately, but I HAVE had the continuing problem of flimsies withering away in my studio, stitched together but in want of quilting (and binding, although binding is one of my favorite parts so I never seem to have trouble with that final step). 

A big part of my problem is that I get overly anxious about the quilting being perfect, and since my free motion machine quilting skills are somewhat lacking, I am terrified of messing up a top that I've worked so hard on. I've taken the quilting classes, I get the theory, I just need the practice and the self acceptance that these aren't show quilts. No one but me (and maybe the Momcat) is going to look closely at the stitching and know if something isn't perfect. It's silly to have projects (and presents for people!) pining away upstairs when they could be out bring quilty joy to the world.

So while the N-boy hunkered down with Minecraft, I headed upstairs to my studio and dusted off my sewing machine. First step-warm up and practice. I already have pre-assembled quilting practice kits ready to go thanks to the Momcat. I know I need lots more practice, but I was pretty goal oriented today so I just did one practice piece.

Then, I put in the first project I want to finish; it's a secret project for someone so I don't want to show much of it. Not too shabby. Not perfect (or even close!), but I'm happy with it. 

Up close and personal with the quilting.

And of course no sewing session is complete without assistance from the helper cats. These pictures make them look cute and innocent. Not shown are the MULTIPLE times that I had to forcibly remove each cat from the quilt, in the machine, while I was sewing. Fail, cats, fail. 

Catcat.

Friday.

I can only machine quilt for about an hour at a time before my wrist and arm start bugging me (tendonitis), but since Bonnie's challenge is for one hour a day that works for me! Now if I can just keep this up I might actually get this quilt finished! And then move onto the next one! 

What can I do to keep my momentum going??

Unplugged.

Our modem died this week. It was a sad and somewhat terrifying moment. We've had it for almost four years, and when you think that it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I guess it's really done pretty well. Especially when you start adding up all of the devices that we have running all the time (three laptops, one kindle, two iphones, an airport, an old ipod touch and an apple TV. Add in a partridge in a pear tree and we're ready for Christmas in July).

It's been a rough week. Even though I'm online all day at work, I hadn't realized how attached I really am to the internet. Or even to just watching Netflix through the apple TV. But in some ways, it's been pretty nice. I've gone for lots of walks with the N-boy. I've read more books this week than in the last month. And I've started working on a sewing project again. It's actually been pretty relaxing, and while I'm going to be VERY happy when the internet reappears this Friday (and better than ever because we decided to upgrade!), I think this has served as a good reminder to unplug and relax on occasion.

Finished for Friday: Christmas Candle Mat

Once again I join Threeundertwo at her wonderful blog Lit and Laundry for her Finished for Friday post.
This week I've finished the Christmas Candle Mat!

This will be a Christmas present this year, and I can't believe I've finished it so early.
It's a log cabin pattern with simple one inch cross hatching for the quilting.


In addition to being part of Finished for Friday, this is also a finish for Kim's Get it Done in August challenge! Now I just have three more candle mats to go and that will be one project checked off my list!

Also, one of my other favorite bloggers, Gran, is having a give away over on her blog Knot-y Embroidery Lady. Visit her to see the cute fabrics she's giving away, and see some of her finished projects.

Next week week will be absolutely crazy at work as we move full swing into new student orientation.
This was something I came up with earlier this week, for a resource fair our department was a part of.

I'm part of the training for a brand new program, which is great, but it also means I will literally be living at work for three days. I'm hoping to get some time to relax and get some projects done this weekend.

Farmer's Market Bounty, Freezer Cooking and A Get it Done Challenge!

I had a very busy and unusually productive weekend, getting lots done on multiple fronts: cooking, crafting, housework and packing for the move!

The N-boy and I ventured to the Farmer's Market as usual on Saturday. We've gotten very efficient inside as we have our favorite vendors for different products, make a list before hand, and try to get there earlier, as to avoid the crowds.

This week included blueberries, eggplant and heritage carrots!

Every time we look at the carrots we both hear in our head the Chairman from Iron Chef America announcing "Carrots!" as the secret ingredient during the carrot episode. If you don't know what I'm talking about you should check out Iron Chef America for free on fancast.com. Seriously-one of my favorite shows ever!

One thing that the N-boy are working on for this fall is planning/working ahead as much as possible, as to reduce stress during a very busy time of year. So when it's my week to cook, I've been trying to cook extra to add to the freezer.

On Sunday I may have gone a little overboard, cooking a chicken pot pie casserole and a beef burgundy stew, plus cooking up 3 cups of diced chicken for use in things like tacos.

I used the Freezer Cookbook for both of these recipes on the Organized Home website. The woman who runs this website CEO, is the same woman who has the wonderful Organized Christmas website. Check them both out if you have a chance!

Finally, I'm joining Kim over at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure for her challenge to "Get It Done in August!" She's challenging us to get as many projects finished this month as possible! I'm in, as I think I need a good kick in the rear to get going on some (many) of my unfinished projects!

Here's my list (as of today). I reserve the right to add to this list as I remember/unearth more projects that I've forgotten about.

1. Four Christmas table mats -sandwich, quilt and bind
2. Amish Waves baby quilt-Finish quilting, bind and send to baby (Note to self-it's time to get this done and stop worrying about making it perfect.)
3. Crown of Jewels-Piece top
4. Paper pieced heart wall hanging-Finish piecing top, quilt, bind
5. Tutti Frutti- Lay out and piece top
6. Cut and sew first step and second step for mystery quilt-Because starting another new project is a good idea

So far I've worked on the Christmas table mats-here's a picture of one of them with the quilting half done.

I actually finished up the quilting on it last night, but forgot to take a picture!

Finished for Friday: Polka Dot Dress

I'm joining threeundertwo over at Lit and Laundry again this week for Finished for Friday! Yesterday I took a day off work as a comp day (for leading the Taste of Chicago field trip last weekend). I went out for a bagel, read Harry Potter book 2, and worked on this dress:I'd gotten the pattern back in May at JoAnn Fabric when it was on sale for $1. I know that princess style seams look best on me, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I've made skirts before-successfully-and was hoping this would be just as easy. The N-boy picked out the fabric himself!
Here are the pattern pieces all layed out. After I took this picture I realized the fabric was folded the wrong way, so I had to take everything off, re-fold and re-pin. I'm counting this as a finish because it is put together, even though it still needs some tweaking to make it fit correctly. The Momcat has already promised to help me with this. The problem is that the arm holes are a little tight, the bust line needs a little adjustment, and it's a bit too big from the waist down. In the picture below You an kind of see the problems with the sleeves.BUT for my first attempt at sewing clothing in many years, I think it turned out ok. I'm going to try a skirt again next, to see if I can't do better with something a wee bit simpler.

The N-boy and I are heading up to his parent's for the holiday. They took a new call (ELCA) last November, and this will be the first time for me to visit them there. It will also be my first time to see them since the N-boy got sick this Spring, so I'm a bit nervous about that. His illness is definitely going to be that big elephant in the room that noone wants to talk about, but that needs to be discussed. Oh well, I'm sure it will work out ok, and it will be nice to see family.

Hope everyone out there has a wonderful holiday!

Knitting Needle Holder: Complete!

One of my goals for this last week was to make a knitting needle holder for my friend E. E and I are in a knitting club together (amongst many other shared activities). One of the other women in the club (who is also in my quilting guild) was showing us a knitting needle holder that she'd made. E loved the holder, and kept talking about how she'd have to find or make one for herself.

Well, her birthday is conveniently coming up on July 1, so I thought, "How hard can this be? I'll make her one!" And the best part of this is that it wasn't hard at all! I Googled to find a pattern and ended up on Multicrafty's site where she has a super tutorial. Using E's favorite colors (colonial blue and fuschia pink--all from my stash, no less), I put one together! I made a few small changes to the pattern, most notably using a 3/8 inch seam allowance when sewing the outside fabric border to the top of the inside pocket, to make it easier for me to flip the fabric over and stitch in the ditch to secure.

Here's a picture of the completed holder, rolled up and tied with pretty ribbon. On the insider there are three pockets for storing knitting needles of various lenghts, and wider pockets for circular needles. A close up of the inside, with a pair of needles in the top pocket. The inside with the top piece folded down in preparation for rolling up and securing with ribbon. This folded down piece keeps the needles from slideing out the top!
All in all I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I can definetely see making more of these in the future. Although I did finish it in a day, I'm confident I could make the next one more quickly now that I've gotten the hang of it. E comes back from her vacation next week, and I hope she likes it!