Not been in a sewing kinda mood...

BUT, I finished my quilt. I have to admit, I ended up rushing this, and machine sewed the binding, which is supposed to be hand finished. For SHAME! I know, I know. Maybe my next one. I don't know why this quilt became such a pain to me. The excitement of finishing it though, crappily, even, did get me motivated. I want to start a new project right away. I will do something that will not take a bunch of time though. I will be making some Amy Butler lounge pants for my long suffering sis. I might run by the quilt shop to pick up some more fabric to make a couple of pairs. I'd like to make my mom some too, and I could always use another pair to lounge about in. I've found that they come together SOOOO quickly, that it seems a good idea to cut several pairs out all at once. I can knock out several pairs in a couple of hours. They are that quick.

I also recently bought Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. Love it!! There are so many great projects in there, I don't know which one to do first. Also, I am TOTALLY coveting this pattern by Anna Maria Horner, who also has to DIE for fabrics. It looks a little complicated, but I definitely want to try it. I have a ton of Amy Butler patterns that I really need to use, and of course make some more things for Emi. Plus I have a fairly simple looking quilt I'd like to make with some fabrics I've already purchased for that very purpose, and a kit I bought a few months ago when I fell in love with a quilt I saw in a quilting magazine. Whew! Wish me luck on my lofty goals!!

Quilt top...done

It's amazing what you can get done when you actually sit down and make time to sew!! I haven't done a lot of that lately, and today, I did. The house is clean, there were no trips to the grocery store I needed to make, and only the occasional transfer of laundry from the washer to the dryer. I hit shuffle on ITunes, and sewed away. All my blocks and sashing and border...riddled with mistakes I assure you, but, my goodness what a learning experience.

Now, I need to measure it, and get batting and backing laid out, pin the heck out of it, and then quilt it. Then all I'll have is binding, and since I FINALLY know how to to do that, my quilt will be complete. I hear that the machine quilting takes a while, as does hand sewing the binding. But that is okay. I have a million more sewing projects that are piling up, but I do want to finish this quilt, since it is my new year's resolution!! Then, on to the pair of Amy Butler lounge pants I've promised my sister FOREVER. Those will take mere moments compared to quilting!!

Sew, Sew, Sew...

Whew, I've been busy. Here they are, in all of their imperfect glory. I still have 3 more blocks to make. Then I will sew on the sashing, and border. Our last class is next week, and they will teach us how to do the binding, and give us some pointers on actually quilting it. We won't be doing that in class because there isn't enough room in the classroom. I'm pretty excited. I can't believe I will have made a quilt!

And so it begins...

Here it is, the beginning of my first block. Three more of these, sew them all together, and then the first block of my first quilt will be complete. Yay!!

A New Year's Resolution...Kind of...

I'm not much for New Year's Resolutions in the traditional sense. It hasn't always been this way. Oh, I've tried to change huge things in my life and usually failed within a month. So, several years ago, I decided that if I make any kind of resolution, it would be to do something fun, and potentially new. One year I went parasailing. Another year I finally took tennis lessons, something which I've wanted to do for a very long time. This year, I wanted to attempt a quilt. For a sewing novice this is a pretty daunting undertaking, so I signed up for a class at a local quilt shop. I had my first class, and it was fun, HARD, and kind of exciting, knowing that at the end of five weeks (in theory!) I will have a quilt.

I picked fabrics, which was difficult. Five fabrics and I was sweating and stressing. I'm not like other people. I have a severe fabric-go-together deficiency. I was not born with this skill, and after agonizing in not one, but TWO fabric stores, I picked these fabrics. All but one are Amy Butler. Our homework is to cut the fabric for two of the blocks and then sew together the first one. So, I am excited, and I'm glad that I picked fabrics that I love, and that will feel wonderful running through my hands as I feed it into the sewing machine. And my husband is in total agreement, since he said that quilts are something that stick around much longer than say...an article of clothing. "This quilt you are making, it might end up in Emi's house one day. So, buy the good stuff." Boy, I love that guy! So wish me luck!!

She has a name, too...

I finally finished this doll using the Wee Wonderfuls Pattern for the Chloe doll. It was long, painful, and riddled with mistakes (the least of which was not over stuffing the doll, or sewing the legs on the wrong way...). But I learned a lot. Like I have a HUGE amount of respect for doll makers. I always have, but I'm sure you've heard the phrase about walking a mile in someone else's shoes. Um yeah, I TRUDGED!

Anyway, I ended up painting the face on the doll, and it turned out really well. I was really dreading cutting up tiny bits of felt, so I thought paint would make a nice alternative, so I used some acrylic craft paint, a teeny little brush. My little girl loves coming to the fabric store with me, and I usually let her pick something out. One time she selected a bunch of fat quarters, and the dress was made from one of those. I was so frustrated by tiny little clothing that I didn't put sleeves on it. Frankly, I ran out of steam. For the whole project, not that it would have taken very long had I kept at it. I fell out of love, but persevered, and voila!! My little girl now has a new doll, and upon seeing her, christened her...April. I don't know where the name came from, but here is April in all of her mistake riddled glory. Emi doesn't seem to mind and April has been a constant presence in her bed since she was finished.

I wish I was as talented as Hilary from Wee Wonderfuls, and I'm sure with more practice, my dolls would improve, but the frustration level while attempting this is still too fresh in my mind. In six months I will have forgotten the sailor-mouthed diatribes and try again.

Whew! I fell off the face of the Earth!

Not too long ago, I was fortunate...umm, actually make that QUICK enough to nab a Black Apple Doll Kit. I'm really glad I got the one with the black hair, since she is going to my little girl, who adores black. Pretty grown-up tastes for a 5 year old. Anyway, the kit came together very easily, though the final sewing it all together was a bit nerve-wracking. Putting it together made me appreciate all the time and effort that Emily of the Black Apple puts into her amazing dolls. This doll has a free pattern and tutorial here where she shows a VERY famous person how she makes her little dolls. However, the fabric that came in the kit is not available anywhere! It is a fabric that Emily herself designed and is Black Apple exclusive. Too cute! I love Little Red Riding Hood peeking out with the Wolf skulking about. I'd love to see Emily illustrate a children's novel one day. She has beautiful work which she sells in her Etsy store.

If Emi likes her, I might make her another one from the pattern I downloaded. Of course, before I do that, I will need to upgrade my felt. The felt in the kit is wool I believe, and is very fine and has a beautiful feel to it. I can't make one of these cute dolls using cheap felt and feel good about it.