Looking Forward: 2014

On the one hand, I really enjoy blogging. It is my crafty journal, with pictures, notes, stories... a record of the things I make. It is a wonderful thing to have that and to be able to share it with others.

On the other hand, blogging kind of stresses me out. It takes time. LOTS of time. And some days, the prospect of sitting down to try and accomplish a blog post just seems hard. Last night, as I was laboring over my coat post (which took me a couple of hours to put together), my husband suggested to me that maybe I should make it easier on myself by blogging projects in pieces rather than all at once at the end.

I like the sound of that! I have kind of been doing that some using Instagram-- micro-blogging, quick pics of what I'm working on with a little update. I want to do more of that. I want to do more of that using my actual blog-- smaller posts, vignettes of what I'm doing, small discussions/musings on whatever questions or challenges are developing as I work on something. So that is something I hope to work on for 2014. Smaller, more consistent, posting more regularly. I think it is a good goal.

Speaking of goals. Check out my 2013 completed projects collage:

Woo! Look at all of that! It is fun putting the collage together. Seeing it all together like that really makes me feel like I've been productive in the last year. Kind of cool! And some of those were big projects, too!

Here were my goals for 2013:

1. Use more fabric than I buy.-- Check! And an improvement over last year, too:
   

   Fabric In: 61.600 yards
   Fabric Used: 79.195 yards

2. Finish at least 2 UFOs.-- I finished a couple of lingering UFOs, and even dug out a couple of languishing projects and made progress. (Many thanks to Carrie P. over at A Passion for Applique for her yearlong "Nothing but UFOs" initiative-- it was inspiring!)


3. Sew more clothes for me!-- I only made three items for myself, but they were all awesome, and one of them was a coat (which I was shocked to see that I mentioned specifically in my goals last year!).


4. More handwork.-- Sigh... I guess I can't meet every goal. I am still missing handwork. But I did do some toward the end of the year as I have been working on Wild Olive's Autumn Stitching Club.


5. Lose that last 15 pounds.-- Almost. And I am okay with that! I managed to stay active and drop 10 pounds this year.

My goals for 2014:

1. Use more fabric than I buy.-- I intend to keep working on shrinking the stash.


2. Finish at least 2 UFOs.-- This is the year I am going to finish my Bargello Reflections quilt. For reals. And hopefully some other stuff too.


3. Finish at least 1 kit quilt-- In the past few years, I've acquired a number of quilt kits. I want to start making those kits become real quilts.


4. Blog once a week.-- See above. This feels like a reasonable expectation I can set for myself. (Says she who blogged one time last month... ha!)


5. Lose that last 5 pounds.-- ... or maybe even a little more. I am finding it harder to keep a regular exercise schedule lately. I want to re-focus and really push myself to be intentionally active at least 4 days a week as well as be more whole foods focused (and eat a lot less Doritos).

I'm feeling like 2014 is going to be a fun year!

McCall's 6442: A Coat!

You know when you get all dressed up for something, and it's chilly, and all you have is that one winter raincoat that is maybe not-so-fancy? Maybe you don't know. But in my experience, it just feels weird to put on that casual-ish raincoat over the fancy-schmancy outfit. I needed a coat. A nice coat. But buying a coat from the store is tough because it invariably fits in one area, but not in another-- so I'm either squished in the boobs, or wearing a tent. So I decided I was gonna make me a coat... in 2008. That is when I bought the fabric. But frankly, I was intimidated.


This year, just after Thanksgiving, I found myself inspired by a few lovely versions of McCall's 6442 that I found on Pattern Review (including this, this, and this). I started out by making a muslin of the bodice.

The muslin helped me to decide on a full bust adjustment of 1" (which included adding a horizontal dart from the side seam), shortening the sleeves by 1-1/2", and going up one size (to an 18). Then I went to cut out my actual fabric. That was a time-consuming process. Because I wanted to be sure it was a warm coat, I decided on adding an underlining of flannel to my wool outer fabric. I did some research and found a Threads article by sewing guru Sandra Betzina, "Understanding Underlining," that offered great guidance on how to go about doing that. Part of the process involved hand basting all of the wool and flannel pieces together. By the time I was done with that, I needed a break and just stepped away from the project (and all other crafty pursuits) for a month.

Last weekend, I finally got to work on the actual putting-together of the coat. Over the course of three days, I finished it. Yay!!! My husband helped me take some pictures today:

I made view C with the notched collar and then added the belt from view B.

The outer fabric is wool purchased from Hancock Fabrics in 2008. I just used a plain off-white 100% cotton flannel for the underlining. The resulting coat really is nice and cozy!

The pattern does not include belt loops. I really wish I had thought to include some. They would make putting the belt on a bit simpler.

The lining is a poly charmeuse I found at JoAnn's. I wanted something fun and colorful.

I ended up making a few other changes as I went:

• Added topstitching to the collar and the bodice front facing.
• Shortened the sleeves by an additional 2-1/8" from the outer fabric, and 1-5/8" from the lining.
• I didn't like the way the pattern suggested to finish the sleeves, so I finished it the same way as the pattern instructs to do the skirt hem.
• At step 45 in the instructions (wherein you baste the skirt lining to the outer at the top), I trimmed the lining by about 1/2" and then aligned the edges and basted (I didn't want my lining, which is slinkier, to be drooping down below the hemline).
  
• Added two 30 mm snaps.
• Interfaced and topstitched the belt.

This coat was NOT a fast project. In addition to the work I added for myself with the underlining, there was a lot of hand sewing involved with the lining (the sleeves to the armholes, the bodice to the skirt, the skirt facing to the lining). I know there are ways to do linings that don't involve nearly so much handwork, but I was tired of researching and just wanted to get in there and get this coat made; so I went with what the pattern instructed. The pattern instructions are straightforward and the techniques involved are not difficult, but I still don't know that I would consider the pattern to be "Easy" as advertised on the pattern cover. Overall, this coat is a winner. It was a great learning project and my sewing skills have improved as well. And it feels good to finally have a snazzy, fancy coat to wear when I'm feeling the need to dress up.

Huzzah!!! A new coat!!!

Happy new year!!!

Halloween 2013!!!

Tomorrow I leave for Houston to attend the International Quilt Festival (woo hoo!!!!!!), so I have to write my annual Halloween post a bit early. While I am bummed I won't be at home to share in the festivities with my family, I am at the same time super excited to have the opportunity to go to Festival this year (woo hoo!!!!!!!).

In recent months, the hotness at our house has been a video game called Guacamelee! from Drinkbox Studios. My boys absolutely love this game. And truly, it is pretty darn awesome-- the art, the music (seriously, the music is incredible; we even bought the soundtrack!), the story, the mechanics, the different endings... way cool! So it was no surprise that when it came time to choose their costumes, Big Bear and Little Bear both wanted to be characters from the game. Big Bear wanted to be a yellow skeleton (because they're super fast!). Little Bear wanted to be a green skeleton (because they're green!).

I started by perusing eBay. There I found sombreros of appropriate hues (thank you, noveltwholesale!), as well as some gently used glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas. Then I got to work on the rest.

I ended up making ponchos, tattered pants, and red sashes. I didn't use a pattern for the ponchos or sashes and just kind of winged it. For the pants, I used Kwik Sew pajama patterns, 3126 (toddler sizes; I made a T3) and 3604 (boys & girls sizes; I made a Medium).

Above is a picture of the green skeleton from the game next to Little Bear's rendition.

The ponchos are made of fleece, including the appliqued stripes. I decided on fleece because Halloween night around here is typically cold (and wet... but, as always, we are crossing our fingers for a dry evening!). The green poncho was a bit of a challenge, as there were angles involved. It made me glad that it was a small size as I could lay the whole thing out on the table.

The yellow poncho was much more straightforward. I think it turned out pretty darn close to the look of the in-game version, which you can see in the image above. Since the sombreros came with ball trim on them, I decided to add some to the ponchos as well, to help tie the look together.

My husband was concerned that the costumes be as "cosplay accurate" as possible. So I made the pants and sash. But I didn't have it in me to make shirts too... I mean, they'd just be completely covered up by the ponchos anyway, right? I feel a bit like a slacker, but really, the boys are both happy, and that's what really counts.

When they put on their costumes, they immediately got into character and were very excited to show off all of their skeleton moves.

What a pair!

Wishing you a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival, Fall 2013: "Short Circuit"

For this season's Blogger's Quilt Festival, I'm entering "Short Circuit" in the Group/Bee Quilts category:

The design is inspired by Elizabeth Hartman's "Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow Tutorial." One of the mosaic blocks was made by me, and the other ten were made via a block exchange with some ladies in my quilt guild. (If you want to learn a little more about how the exchange worked, you can read about it here.)

The blocks were all completed a couple of years ago. It took me awhile to get around to putting them all together, but once I got going, I looked to Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial for making a floating blocks quilt. I also have to give thanks to Carrie P. and her Nothing But UFOs Challenge. The challenge really got inspired to work on this and get it done. The final stitches in the binding were finally completed last week. Yay!

The fabrics are a mix of solids along with prints primarily from Michael Miller's Bot Camp collection. With that in mind, I decided on quilting inspired by a design in the book Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters, "Geometric Allover." The design made me think of circuit boards, which seemed like a good fit with all the robots. It is quilted using Aurifil 50/2 thread in Light Robin's Egg blue (#2710) over the whole quilt. You can't really tell in the pictures, but I actually quilted the design in a larger scale over the mosaic blocks and then more densely over the solid background (which, if you are curious, is a Kona solid, Ocean).

I really like how the pieced back worked out as well! It was a nice way to use up some of the extra bits from the front. The finished size of the quilt is 58" x 70".

The label includes the name of each of the ladies who made a block for the quilt. But I've gone ahead and blurred all their names, just in case they don't want to be floating around on the interwebs.

And now it is all ready for some snuggling!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out "Short Circuit" and I hope you have a great time as you continue to check out other entries on display in Blogger's Quilt Festival, Fall 2013! There is no shortage of inspiration and eye candy. And many thanks to Amy's Creative Side for hosting this fabulous event!

A belated gift...

I recently got to spend some time with a friend whom I hadn't seen in more than a year. Such a treat! Even better, it meant that I could finally give her a (very) belated birthday gift:

This happy little pouch is from Elizabeth Hartman of Oh! Fransson; it is the "Perfect Zip Bags" pattern. This is View C in the large size. I've actually made this view before, but this is the first time I tried the large size-- and it is BIG (you can see how I loaded it up below). Overall, it is a great pattern. But, there is one thing I didn't mention last time which would have been helpful for me as I completely forgot when I was making this one. This is a user error issue, not necessarily a problem with the pattern-- but definitely a problem for me (since I've done it twice now!).

For my bags, I've been using a canvas interlining to add stability (the canvas goes in-between the outer fabric and the lining, and is cut to size so as to not cause bulk at seams). It works really well. However, you need to be careful to make the topstitching along the the zipper far enough away such that the interlining is caught in the stitches as well. I topstitched about 1/8" away from the zipper; when I went to turn everything right-side-out, I realized that the interlining was not caught in the stitches (or it caught so close to the edge that it was starting to fray apart) because it had slipped a smidge in the whole zipper insertion/sewing process. The end result was a slightly loosey-goosey interlining at the top of the bag. It definitely wasn't horrible (certainly not enough to merit me doing a ton of unsewing and tearing out topstitching to fix it), and I don't think it will affect the shape or durability of the bag. But it bugs me-- especially since it is a simple fix: topstitch 3/8" to 1/4" away from the zipper, thus ensuring that the interlining will be caught as well. Had I noted this the first time, I might have remembered it and actually made the correction this time around. Sigh...

So. Now I have made a note. Listen-up self-- don't make this same mistake again! :)

I used scraps from Patty Young's beautiful Sanctuary collection paired with Kona Coal. The lining is Kona Green Tea.

My friend enjoys a bit of wordsmithing at times, so I loaded it up with writing-related stuff-- like disposable fountain pens, a leather-bound journal, and some Haiku inspiration. And an amazon.com gift card. Just because.

There is something about creating a holder and then filling it with special stuff that just makes me happy. Fortunately, it made her happy too! :)

Spring Mystery Quilt complete!

My 2013 Spring Mystery Quilt from Heather Spence Designs is complete!

It was a fun quilt to put together, and it was good use-what-I-have project: no fabric was purchased for this quilt!

I used Aurifil 50/2 thread in dove (2600) and rusty orange (2240) for the quilting. I started with the straight diagonal lines using my walking foot. Then I stippled in the open areas of the center.

I then did the inner border in a stacked ripple and each of the cornerstones have a square-on-point outline with stippling in the center (I failed to get a good picture of that though.) The outside border is quilted in straight lines the same width apart as the ones in the center. I used Kona Navy for the binding and finished it by machine, ala Red Pepper Quilts.

I love the pieced back on this. It really works for me. I think the symmetry makes me happy.

This quilt is going to be donated to Camp Korey, one of the local charitable organizations my guild supports. I have no doubt its future will include many snuggles. :)

And, in case the thought of doing a mystery quilt intrigues you-- there is going to be another one starting soon! The Heather Spence Designs Fall 2013 Mystery is starting on October 4th. Sign up now!

Edited to add:

If you like this design, it is now available for purchase through Heather's shop. The pattern is called "Connect the Dots."

Vogue 1224 = Woo hoo!!!

This Tracey Reese design from Vogue Patterns had been sitting on my floor all cut out and ready to sew for months. I decided it needed to be one of my challenge goals for August, and I managed to get it made just under the wire (finished the morning of the 31st!). I finally got a chance to wear it and get some pictures (many thanks to my husband!).

I bought the beautiful border-print knit from Gorgeous Fabrics last summer with the intention of using it with this pattern. (It took me a year, but at least I finally got it made!) For the skirt lining, I used a nude-colored polyester interlock I bought at Hancock Fabrics.

I cut a size 16, and made a couple of adjustments to the pattern, based on the reviews I read:

• Lengthened the bodice by 1-1/2 inches.
• Lengthened the skirt by 2 inches.
• Omitted the ties at the neckline (I have cats and a preschooler... long ties just aren't practical for me).
• Omitted the separate casing pieces at the waist-- I opted instead to stitch down the seam allowance where the skirt and bodice are joined and used that as the casing.
• Ignored the cutting instructions for the skirt pieces so that I could take advantage of the lovely border on the fabric.

This was actually a very easy dress to put together. I'm kind of kicking myself that it took me so long to get around to making it.

I love that it is something I wear anytime. It is comfy enough for everyday wear and I can still dress it up for an occasion with the right shoes and accessories. I really think I will get good wear out of this project and I can totally see myself making another dress like this if I find the right fabric for it.

Hip-hip-hooray for a happy new dress!

Baby Bots!

One of my goals for August included completing this quilt:

I call it "Baby Bots." It is a disappearing nine-patch design.

The fabrics were left over from my Mod Mosaic block exchange quilt. I cut 5" squares from the scraps, put them together in nine-patches, and then cut them in half through the center, once horizontally, once vertically. Then I sewed them together to create the quilt.

I quilted it with a big easy stipple. Easy peasy and fun!

Baby Gunnar's parents told me that they were decorating his nursery with robots. So this quilt turned out to be the perfect gift for him.

Yay!

Back to School: Part 2

This week it is Little Bear's turn to go back to school! This will be his third year of cooperative preschool. He decided that he wanted a school bag, just like his big brother. I was happy to oblige!

I used the Mail Sack pattern from Pink Chalk Studio. I actually made this same bag 3 years ago when Big Bear was in preschool.

He chose the fabrics. His favorite color is green. Again, it went together fabulously. I shortened the strap by 2" as Little Bear is on the smaller side. I think it is a great length for him that he can grow into some still.

This time around, I interfaced everything (except for one pocket piece) resulting in the bag being a tad bit stiff. I figure as time passes, it will soften up. And as it belongs to Little Bear-- it needs all the durability it can get!

Sometimes, I look at him and it blows my mind. He's growing up so fast!

Happy Kitty Heads

One of my finishes from last month was my 2012 Fall Mystery Quilt from Heather Spence Designs. I call it "Happy Kitty Heads" (inspired by the Laurel Burch print I used).

I quilted the heck out of it using Aurifil Mako 50/2 threads to coordinate with the fabrics: dove (2600), bark (1140), and rusty orange (2240).

And my love affair with Angela Walters continues! Once again, her fabulous book, Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters, inspired my background quilting. I used her "Swirled Hook" design through all of the grey areas.

I kind of did my own thing in the orange areas and I think it works pretty well. Then I just did some straight-ish line quilting in the center kitty areas, and feathers in the outer border.

As I have been wont to do lately, I used the leftover fabrics from the front on the back as well as pieces from my stash. I swear, quilt backings are the best stash-buster ever!

Using this Moda marble on the back ended up being a great choice because it really shows off the quilting. Feathers! You can't really see them at all on the front because of the busy print (which was intentional, as I am not-so-confident of my feather quilting skills as of yet)-- but seeing them on the back is a treat since they turned out better than I had hoped.

I used one of the last scraps of the kitty head fabric with my label.

This one is for me!