Showing posts with label sewing bee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sewing bee. Show all posts

Friday, July 27, 2012

Friday Fun Day!

Woo! I finally got my bee block made for Marian!


The block is from the Sunshine Sparkle quilt from the Fat Quarterly Community Retreat Issue.

The thing that took me the longest?


Choosing the fabric for the little points!

I hope Marian likes it :)


I'm cutting and sewing more charm squares for the rest of the afternoon/evening. While I had originally laid all the squares out and was going to sew them in the order I'd decided, I've since found out that my friend wants a queen-sized quilt, so I've had to cut more squares and I think I'm going to sew 9-patches and then arrange those. Luckily I've also gotten some more fabric in the necessary color scheme since the first time I cut charms!


And then this evening I have to pick up some Newcastle [to celebrate London, duh] and watch the Olympic opening ceremonies :)

Friday, June 8, 2012

TGIF!

Happy Friday! Woo!

First off, if you read Don't Call Me Betsy [add her to your reader!] then you know that she announced a Christmas in July event today. We both apparently had the same idea, because we're geniuses of course. So we emailed back and forth earlier in the week about it, and decided we will both keep the Christmas in July title, and there will just be that many more tutorials for everyone to enjoy! I know that her tutorials are accompanied by giveaways, whereas the giveaways here are at the end during the linky party, so that works out nicely. So I just wanted to let everyone know that anyone participating in her event or making items from her tutorials are more than welcome to link up at the end of July over here at Sew Festive. The more the merrier [get it? bahaha].


So remember this picture of fabric from yesterday?

Yeah I didn't get to that. Instead...


I made some more hexies! I'm loving using photo paper to make my templates. And I'm loving finally getting to use the needle book I got in the last round of Pillow Talk Swap.



Hand-sewing isn't just for quilting! I had to hand-sew a hook and eye closure on my skirt for tomorrow's Sartorial Saturday. And um, I sewed it on backwards first. But that's a story for tomorrow. Except I'm going to let you in on a little secret right now: Having to rip out hand-sewn stitches is tragic.

There and Back  

*I'm linking up with Katie for the Handmade Parade today. I have to say, it's so nice having this event so it actually encourages me to slow down and enjoy it all. Thanks Katie :)


Friday, June 1, 2012

Sort of Fresh Sewing Day

So I was planning on doing this whole round-up post on May for Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day.

And then I looked through my pictures. And saw the small number of things that I created during the month of May. Yes, I made a quilt, but that's pretty much it. There were no small projects this month. And yes I made a dress, but I haven't shown that yet, and it's monsooning here in Florida so pictures will have to wait.

So instead, this is what I've been up to the past two days:

 Started my hexagon flowers for Chelsea for Don't Worry {bee} Happy.

 Finished the embroidery on the fabric for my pillow cover. Now to figure out if I just want a simple cover or maybe some piecing?

 Probably the weirdest sewing I'll ever do...my old roommates are going on a month-long backpacking trip in Europe and they brought me sheets and wanted them sewn up sleeping-bag style so they don't have to ever touch the beds at the hostels they're staying at. So I sewed them some long skinny tubes and they tested them out last night when they came over for dinner. I couldn't even hold the camera steady because I was laughing too hard!


One completed tshirt quilt top! My friend Amanda is pleased as punch at this, but just said those all-too-familiar words today..."I don't want to give this away" because this is her first sewing experience. She doodled and wrote under each "photo" in true scrapbook style. But man, teaching her how to make this took twice as long as if I had made it. It's exhausting!

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! I'm waiting on word from a company that I interviewed with this week, so I'll be sewing up a storm to calm my nerves :)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Bees, New Sewing Rooms, and a Giveaway

Things are still crazy around here, but such is life!

Clockwise from top left: Charlotte @ twelfthzodiac, Katie @ thereandback, Heather @ Crafting..., and me!

My first 3 bee blocks were in my mailbox on Saturday when I got home from chaperoning. I like all of them more than I like my own original block. Of course!


While I plan to have them in a vertical line, I think a whole quilt of scrappy triangles like this would be super awesome.


I'm going to be doing a sneak peek tidbit of my sewing room every day this week, with a final picture on Friday. Because that's more fun for me. And because it coincides nicely with....


...a giveaway!

I will also be showing a giveaway item each day! It's all for one monster giveaway to celebrate me having a sewing room so I can shut the door and forget to eat and emerge a tired but happy quilter. The actual giveaway entry day will be Friday, so make sure you come back that day, and feel free to keep up with the items that will go to the winner :)


The laptop case is my favorite project from Quilts and More. Just to be clear, I only buy quilting magazines for inspiration, so these both have all the pattern pages still attached, and have just been thumbed through.


The Quilting Arts magazine is more like a special edition magazine that is sturdier. It's chock-full of projects, including these adorable house ornaments. I know that these were super popular this past Christmas around the interwebz.


These stockings were the reason I bought the magazine, and they were my first sewing project after I got my machine. Except I sewed them by hand. And made it all up as I went along.


Now, while I personally am starting to sew Christmas things, and so thought the magazine might be useful to those of you who are also getting a jump-start on Christmas sewing, there are plenty of projects that are not holiday themed, such as these placemats by Alissa.


Check back in tomorrow for more items to go into the giveaway box, the requirements for entering, and some little projects that I've been working on :)



Thursday, April 5, 2012

Triangle Log Cabin Instructions

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I decided on triangle log cabins in warm colors of reds, yellows, oranges, and purples for my brand-spankin'-new bee participation.

I figured the blog was the best/easiest platform for the instructions to my fellow bee ladies, many of who are in Canada [I love when they talk about Robin being Canadian in How I Met Your Mother. Watch this clip. Also, I have no ill will towards Canada, lol]. So because of that, I need to ship out my fabrics soon!

I am sure that there are oodles of ways to put these together, but this is my method, and if everyone follows it then the triangles should be consistent. Yay! And hey, if anyone else wants to make them, now you'll know how!

 The center triangle will be made from a charm square. There will be one in every package.

 To make the triangle line up the ruler at 2.5 inches at the top of the triangle, and down through the bottom corner. Cut.

 Repeat with the other side.

 This is what it should look like when you are done. I chose this method because it is the simplest way that I could think of to create an isosceles triangle.

 [The triangle changed because the Ruby triangle is being used in another project]. Take the first fabric you want in your log cabin and lay it next to the triangle. You will note my ruler placement. The strip of orange fabric must be staggered with the triangle enough so that when the ruler is laid across that left edge there will be orange fabric to trim. You will have to do this every time you add fabric to the triangle.

 Sew, making sure to backstitch when you get to the triangle, even if you start sewing at the end of the strip. Press your seams open.

 Trim the strip on both sides so that the edges are flush with the original triangle.

 It will conveniently also trim the dog ears at the same time.

 This is what you end up with. A bigger triangle! This is the time to trim down the added strip if you want it to be narrower. Once you add additional fabrics you lose the opportunity, so if I had thought this was too wide I would have simply laid my ruler over top, using the seam line of the two fabrics as a guide to stay even, and trimmed to the desired width.

 Keep adding pieces to the sides, just like a regular log cabin block. This is after I had added one piece to all sides. You use the exact same method each time.

 As you can see in this picture, at the top of the red strip you will notice that it is angled, and then flattens out. I can still use the red strip, but I had to trim this down because the shape of the strip did not allow me to follow the line of the left side of the triangle when I went to trim.

Add as much fabric as you'd like [bee members, I give final measurements below]. It is important to sew accurately so you don't end up with a wavy/wonky triangle. And voila, now you have a beautiful triangle log cabin!

Ladies in the bee:
-Finished triangle size should be 15.5" across the bottom and 15.5" from the tip to the bottom.
-As you can see in my example, I don't want the widths of the pieces to be equal the entire time. I ask that you do not use any piece wider than 2.5" finished.
-Feel free to break each strip up into multiple fabrics. To do that you would just sew lengths together to form strips and then follow the instructions above.
-As far as color goes, in my example I did light to dark, but you can do whatever you want. You can use all the same color in each successive go-round, or you can be super scrappy. Whatevs!
-I'd like at least 3 additional rows around each triangle, just like my example.

Most of all, have fun! :) Holler if you have questions! That goes for anyone, not just bee members.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

I finally have some progress again!

Apartment/Townhouse/House-Hunting is consuming pretty much every waking moment of mine. I have had the misfortune of moving every year since I started college [so that's 5 places so far]. Last year was certainly the most horrific, as we discovered the house we were renting had roof leaks and horrible mold in the walls that was making us sick. We ended up having to move out suddenly, store all our belongings in my parent's garage, and sleep on the floor at people's houses for a month while we looked for a new place to live.

So, needless to say, this year isn't quite so bad, but I dread May 1st when I have to move a king-size mattress down 3 flights of stairs :(

I haven't been sewing too much because of all this real life happening, but I have a few things.

Kelly's charm quilt. She wants it to be queen sized, and this is only about 60x80", so I have a bit to go. Except I don't have any more floor space. I'm thinking borders maybe?

I made this triangle log cabin last night to test out the idea I have for the new bee I'm in. I took the first month [because I'm impatient brave and bold and fearless!] and so I need to get cutting fabric to send out. I'll be posting instructions up here tomorrow, so everyone could make log cabin triangles if they so choose!

My super fancy mock-up. The background will be Essex linen in Natural, and the white will be some color once I receive all the triangles and decide what looks best. I'm still not sold on if I like it, but I think that's because it's made with warm colors while I almost always gravitate towards cool colors. I'm excited that the bee will help me embrace some of the reds and oranges in my stash!

I'm also brainstorming and designing a mini for Jessica at Make Me Crafty. We're doing a little swap [so she can get her swappy toes wet]. She's going to be making me a pouch, because I really want one, but just can never bring myself around to doing it.

Now I'm going to settle into my couch with some iced tea and check out all the other WIPs over at Freshly Pieced! :)