Bloggers Quilt Festival: Fall 2012

I have always wanted to participate in The Blogger's Quilt Festival, but for one reason or another it has never happened!  I am squeezing in at the last minute to share a quilt that I love and use every day.

I first decided to make a Turning Twenty quilt when I saw this beautiful version done up in Good Folks over four years ago!  A little while later I fell in love with Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, and I knew I had found my fabric.  When I first started quilting I really was drawn to simple patchwork and letting large prints shine.  I have grown in my appreciation for more intricate quilting, but I still love big prints.  I think they work especially well for bed quilts.  

In the summer of 2011 I cut out and finished my quilt top, but when I finished I was indecisive about how to quilt it.  A king size quilt is no joke to quilt!  I was going to do straight line quilting, but I finally decided to quilt it with a large stipple since free motion quilting is a little more fun!  It took me about four days to quilt, but it honestly wasn't as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind.  

For the back I used a light blue king size cotton sheet, and I made two matching pillowcases.

I also *finally* finished two throw pillows.  For one I used scraps leftover to make a little hexie pillow appliqued on linen.  The other one is a pillow I crocheted using this pattern, and then I sewed to a plain envelope style pillow cover. 

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to go check out all the other quilts in the festival!  There are some really beautiful quilts!

*Quilt Measurements:  approx 100" x 108"
*Special Techniques used- hmmm...how about easy? ;0)
*Quilted by… me!
*Best category – bed quilt, home machine quilted quilt 

-manual mode monday 3/52-

I am *trying* to learn how to knit.  The past two falls I have said I was going to do it, but I never have.    This fall is going to be different.  Since I crochet and am left handed the books told me to try it continental style.  I worked a couple hours yesterday just practicing casting on and knitting and purling.  I got the hang of the knit stitch, but I am just not getting a "flow" with the purl stitch!  It is getting better, but I have been working on it all day!  I feel like an addict.  I put it down in frustration but then walk right back over to it and try again.  I can't help myself.  Youtube and knittinghelp.com have also been my constant companions today.

This past week I also worked quite a bit on my sampler.  Still in love with this project.  I am almost done with this last row, and then only two rows left!

Thank you for all the tips last week on my photos!  The consensus seemed to be to increase my aperture just a bit, and I have been playing around with different settings to see what I like.  This last photo I had the aperture at 2.8, which seemed to allow me to get more of the hoop in focus and blur mostly just the background.

-manual mode monday 2/52

I got started on my pillow for The Pillow Talk swap this weekend.  I have finished all my blocks using this pattern.  This is a fun little block to piece.  I decided to go with a bright, rainbowy mix of colors, and I am using varying shades of white and notebook type fabrics for the background.

 I was inspired by this color combo, and then decided to add a pop of orange to round it out a little more.  I think these kind of colors are to my partner's taste (at least, I hope they are!).   

Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II 

F 2.2 1/60 ISO 800

I shot these all in manual!  Yay!  I found that I liked the overexposed look for these photos, as they made the rainbow really pop against the white.  However, as much as I like the blur, I felt like there was too much blur.  I tried fooling around with it to open the lens a bit more, but eh...  I would appreciate any tips if you have any thoughts!

-ramblings on friday-

I had so much fun sewing for Kid Clothes Week!  I blogged every day except for the last day!  Sunday got away from me, but I did make a pair of Big Butt Baby Pants for Josiah (top left corner).  We don't cloth diaper currently, so they definitely are a bit baggy on a small disposable diapered bottom.  Rae suggests going down a size in the bottom part if you don't cloth diaper, so next time I make these I will definitely follow her advice.  Otherwise, super cute pattern that was easy and fun to put together.  He calls them his cuhr phunts (aka car pants).  I really appreciated this challenge because it got me sitting down to my machine on a more regular basis again.  I also stuck with easy and simple patterns because sometimes I just don't want to deal with a million pattern pieces, and I knew I would quit if I didn't do easy.

I took a break from sewing for the past few days, but last night I whipped up two pairs of bright yellow leggings for the girls.  I used Lil Blue Boo's leggings pattern.  I like this pattern, but I think it runs small.  I made the 7/8 for both girls, but they fit Felicity who is almost five better than they do Juliana (7). 

Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things started a challenge to more regularly shoot in manual mode.  I love our DSLR, but I always shoot in auto.  I am determined to learn how to shoot in manual.  I took some practice shots of Sammy.  Some of these are blurry.  Bummer.  However, isn't she the cutest?  I could just squeeze and kiss her big chubby cheeks all day. (In fact, I usually do.)  She is already six months old!  Really, it has flown by.  Six months seems to be a magic time for our babies.  They seem to really become less fussy, and she is sleeping so much better at night.  She is my first baby to suck her thumb. and it so cute to see her big cheeks pudge around her tiny thumb.  She is a big fan of all her siblings and watches everything they do.  She has quite the fan club and is welcomed with great joy when she wakes up.

This has been a hard week, and I am so glad the weekend is here.  To celebrate I made these One Hour Cinnamon Rolls.  I followed the recipe except for the filling I used half white and half brown sugar.  Then I made a cream cheesing frosting because I *love* cream cheese frosting.  All I have to say is...wow.  Make them.  You will not regret it.  Well, you might when you step on the scale.

I read a lot of really good mom related posts this week that touched my heart.  Looking for a little weekend reading?  Read these.

A Little Encouragement - Clover Lane

A Shadow of My Former Self - Kate Wicker

10 Survival Tactics from Surviving a Bad day - Like Mother, Like Daughter

-kcwc day 6-

pattern:

none.  This is really just one seam with a little elastic and some hemming. If you need guidance, check out The Lazy Days Skirt.

fabric:

Velveteen from Anna Maria Horners' Loulouthi line.  I bought this fabric with the idea to make a bag from it, but I am so glad I didn't.  It is perfect for a skirt and hangs so nicely.

sewing:

Fun!  This skirt took only half an hour to make, and I think it is my favorite thing I have made this week!

It was declared perfect for twirling.

Then they got silly and started running. ;0)

-kcwc day five-

pattern:

Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee, size 5 for my almost 5 year old.  Felicity told me it is a little big.  I told her that was a good thing because that way as she gets older it will still fit.  "So it will fit me until I am 159???", she asked.  Well, I don't know about that...  

fabric:

heart jersey knit  and solid yellow knit from Girl Charlee.

You might recognize these from the pajamas I made earlier this year.

sewing:

Rae was so generous to give her Spring Top judges their choice of one of her patterns.  I picked out her popular Flashback Tee and have been meaning to make one ever since.  It really is super easy. Cutting and sewing took me less than an hour.  Hemming did take a little longer because I tried the twin needle method for the first time, and I had to re-thread my machine and test it out on a scrap to make sure I got it just right.  Katy from No Big Dill has some good tips on how to set everything up.  If you haven't taken the plunge yet into knit sewing, this is the perfect pattern to start with.  Rae walks you right through it.

Up next: twirly skirt!

-kcwc day four-

pattern:

soft baby shoes pattern

found here!

These fit my (very small) six month old perfectly.

fabric:

Heather Ross fabric: horses and princesses.  I cut into the precious for these.  I can't just hoard these fabrics forever, right?!  I loved fussy cutting the princesses to face each other. For the bottom I used a light suede.

sewing:

Keeping on with my theme of easy. These two pairs took me about an hour to put together.

These little shoes really only take scraps and now I have something to cover my little Sammy's feet this fall.   I  can feel myself losing my sewing steam...must. keep. sewing.  I still have a huge stack of fabric I want to cut into!

-kcwc day three-

pattern:

Leila and Ben vest.  A free pattern you can find here.  I made the size three for my 2 1/2 year old.  It fits just right, and he is pretty small for his age.  So I would make sure to size up.

fabric: 

blue corduroy (leftover from a coat I made three years ago) and tiny elephants in gray (Japanese fabric) leftover from this quilt.  Button is vintage.

sewing:

This is a fun, quick sew.  I had just enough of the corduroy to make this, and I cut one side out wrong (again!).  Argh.  So, my husband, who now considers himself a fashion expert *cough, cough* because he has been watching Project Runway with me this season, suggested I cut it crosswise to make it avant-garde.  I don't know if avant-garde is exactly the term I would use, but it still turned out cute!  It also only requires one buttonhole!  Yipee.  I have the worse luck with buttonholes.  Something always seems to go wrong, but this one went in with only slight problems.  

My model wasn't the most cooperative.  I have plans to make him some little matching pants, so I hope to get a better picture of this vest later!

Up next: baby shoes!

What I made on: 

Day 1

Day 2 

-kcwc:day two-

This time around I made pants for the oldest and youngest!

pattern:

Essential Pants from Little Girls, Big Style book.

fabric:

a floral corduroy I got on clearance from Joann's years ago!  I have brought this fabric out almost every fall with an intention to make a jumper or some pants, and every year it has gone back into the stash.  No more!

sewing:

two pattern pieces.  Easy, except for the fact that I had just enough fabric and I had to cut each leg out separately   I forgot to flip one piece around, so ended up with two of the "same leg".  So I had to fudge it a bit.  Not at much room for the *cough* derriere as there should be, but they seem to fit okay for now.  I made the size 6 which fits just fine except the length is jussst right.  I don't think she will be able to wear them for longer than a couple months.  Luckily, she has a sister who will fit into them when she doesn't. ;0)  I also appliqued some stars onto the pants with the same fabric to give it a little something something.  Kind of fun to look and find them.

pattern: 

Britches and Bloomers by Jackie Clark

fabric:

Summer Love by Art Gallery. I made myself a wrap skirt in the spring from this fabric, and I had just enough leftover for some baby pants.  I love this line of fabric.  One of my favorite lines of this year. 

sewing:

This pattern is pretty similar to the pants I made for Juliana.  Just two pieces and a little ruffle.  I made the 6-12 month size.  Samantha is a tiny six month old so they don't quite fit, but they will soon enough!

Coming up next: something for the boy!

See what I made for day one here.

-kcwc day one-

 Taking pictures of my girls together is one of the funniest things ever.  Goofs!

the pattern:

The Treasure Pocket Skirt from Little Girls, Big Style.  One of my favorite sewing books for my girls.  Simple, easy patterns with lots of basics.  I have made a number of things in this book.  Some I have blogged about and others I haven't.  If you have a little girl between 2-6, I would highly recommend it.

(Felicity was in high spirits. Don't know if you can tell.)

the fabric:

Little Apples by Aneela Hoey.  I actually picked this fabric up last October when I was at Sewing Summit.   Perfect fall themed fabric.

the sewing:

Easy.  The skirt is just two squares.  The hardest part is the ruffle.  Felicity's skirt (left) I made the pocket in the book.  For Juliana's (right) I made little folded over pockets.  I have a tutorial on how to make them in my Simple Reversible Skirt tutorial.  I usually make pretty full skirts for the girls.  Juliana really likes it, and thinks it is more grown up.  The book only goes up to size six, and Juliana is seven.  So I just looked at the proportions given in the book and sized hers up a little more.

Back tomorrow with some pants!

-Sampler Week Two-

My sampler is coming along nicely.  I am really enjoying this project.  I like to pick it up while listening to Juliana's reading lessons or when I crash on the couch at the end of the evening.  I am ahead a little bit, but I am sure at some point this will be a good thing.  I already have my eye on the spring cross stitch sampler.  I wish Alicia had a kit for that one too!

I think we have a new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  We recently got the King Arthur Flour cookbook from the library, and wow!    So many great recipes.  We have long been fans of Cooks Illustrated  Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies, but this has such a nice chewy center with a crisp outside.  Perfect combo.

I am getting ready for Kid Clothes Week, which starts tomorrow!  I already have some things cut out and sewed a little bit today.  I have lots of things on the list, so lets see how much actually gets done!

What are your plans for this week? 

-at last-

The Fussy Cut Bee quilt is complete!  I finished it sometime in August, but I was DONE when I was finally finished with it.  This quilt has been on my "to finish" list for so long, and it has been blogged about it a number of times.   So happy to cross it off that list! 

This quilt was the first time I ever put my own fabric bundle together, and I would now say these are very "Megan colors".  I requested improv log cabin blogs, and I got a fun variety of blocks.

I needed this quilt to be slightly bigger than a twin for Felicity's double bed on the bottom bunk, so I added a scrappy border. 

I quilted it with a stippling pattern.  So fast and easy and covers up a multitude of mistakes. ;0)

Here it is on Felicity's bed.  I was excited to be able to have a place to use this pillow too!  

I love how a picture can make something look so pretty and serene.  In reality, there were toys and stuff all over this room.   

Felicity likes the new quilt, but was really upset about her "guys".  She is one of those kids who sleeps with a thousand and one stuffed animals on her bed.  I don't know how she does it.  I let her put them all back on once I got my picture.  She sleeps on the tiny sliver of bed on the left... ;0)