new in the shop!

blossoming spring trees quilt!

"homebodies".

well, i have listed all of my new items thus far, from my new collection for winter/spring 09 "homebodies", in my etsy shop. there are some adorable pillows, as well as comfy quilts (mini, as well as larger). you can see my shop by clicking the link to the right. -------------------->

there is more on the way, once i can find the time to finish what's left! hehe.... i have plans for some great new things, and i can't wait to share them!

new in the shop!

a tiny little mini quilt, all hand stitched!!
check it out!

sneak peek & goodbye.

this is just a sneak peek of the first quilt i've completely finished for my new collection, "Homebodies" (which previously had a tentative different name). i have four more quilt tops awaiting topstitching and binding, one more sitting beside the machine to get pieced together, and four more little bundles of fabric dying to be cut. so, i have my work cut out for me. my goal is to have the collection up on etsy by the end of february, thus making it my winter/spring '09 collection. i am really excited to get through this pile of work, and i believe it really is my best yet! all will include interesting top stitching (this quilt pictured has zig zag stitching), as well as hand sewn binding.

totally unrelated, i said goodbye to a dear old friend of almost ten years last week. it was bittersweet, and slightly ridiculous ;) i will miss him.

progress.

i tried to get a bit of sewing done, some catching up on quilt tops i had started but left partially done. adding borders, grids, and just generally finishing up. i also got the remainder of the zig zags done on the mint & orange colored quilt, but i'm still trying to decide on a border.

[click each one to see it larger..]










next on the sewing table: red/aqua/white!

zig zag 2.

i'm in the midst of working on my 3rd zig zag quilt. this time i'm using orange/peach and green/mint colored fabrics... the colors of the photos aren't exact, i had a hard time with the lighting in the apartment right now, but you get the idea. the pile of fabric in the last photo are the fabrics for the remaining zig zags, with brown at the bottom just as at the top.





as soon as it is completed along with the rest of the quilts in my new collection for winter/spring 09, "pinky promises", it'll be up on etsy!

zig zag!

i'm in the process of finishing this quilt for my winter/spring 09 collection, "pinky promises"...
(click on each photo to make them larger.)



with the border that you see hanging alongside of it, it will be approx 3'x4'. i haven't decided on a backing fabric or what i'll use for binding, yet. it will get listed in my etsy shop as soon as i'm ready to list my whole collection!

the top grey fabric is a calico from jo anne fabrics. the dot, paint-by-number nature fabric, and aqua flowers are from the "lush" collection from erin michael for moda fabrics. the bottom two brown martini dots and apricot wallflower prints are from amy butler.

productive new year's day.

in progress:


they'll be up in my shop once they're done :)
...of course, the fun stuff is left to do: backing, top stitching, and binding!

happy new year!!

i've got laundry in the dryer, a pizza in the fridge, Bones on tv, and brand new mini quilts up in the shop! this is how i ring in the new year! ;)


hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!!! i can't wait to see what 2009 brings!

productive.

since this is one of those december in maine weekends, where we get dumped with at least a foot and a half of snow, i've decided that means i need to be productive. since i'll be stuck inside until monday. ...i cut out two small quilts today, and got the blocks to one sewn.

this is a pattern i have used before, with an older/sold quilt, and i loved how it came out. i got the blocks cut out and sewn today, and tomorrow i will try to cut out and sew the strips that go in the middle of the grid. i'm planning to use a cream color, but i may change my mind before then. ;) no plans yet for the border and binding and backing...

i used mainly amy butler fabrics, but there's an anna maria horner print as well, and a couple of new fabrics from jo-anne's are tucked in there, too.

this zig zag pattern is one i have not done before, and normally i am very wary of working with triangles. thus, it is a bit smaller than the other one, and will end up with some thicker borders to give it some more size. not sure about the binding or backing yet, other than i will make another zig zag stripe going across the back, probably off centered. ...this all, of course, is riding on the fact that i can finish sewing the triangles without giving up on the entire project! BUT, if it goes okay, i plan on making more with this pattern..because the possibilities are endless with colors!

the fabrics for this quilt came from charm packs i've been trying to figure out what to do with! they're "flea market fancy" and "katie jump rope" designs by denise schmidt.

both of these projects will end up in my shop, alongside those two mini quilts i just finished, when i have my grand re-opening, hopefully sometime in early to mid february. expect so many more things to come by then!

mini quilt #2

this one is even smaller than the first one i made (measuring in @ 14x18"!), with a different pattern. also, i used mostly heather ross' fabrics (the tiny fishies, gnomes, and cars!); its totally top stitched and so cute!!

hurray! and whoops!

i managed to pick up a decent assortment of new fabric this weekend, still waiting for a couple of things i ordered online to get here. while my boyfriend and his mother made homemade cheesecake in the kitchen, i started working on a mini quilt. hurray!

i like how it came out, with a couple exceptions. my border is a bit crooked in one spot, and my binding was completely wrong. ha! my first attempt at a traditional binding (instead of a wraparound from the back, which i sometimes do...), and i messed it up. go figure ;) my binding only ended up on the backside of my mini quilt, instead of also wrapping around to the front and back. whoops! it looks interesting on the back now, with a stripe tucked over towards the side, as well. the good thing about handmade creations, though, is that nothing is "wrong", it just gives it character!!

overall, though, i am happy with my little project, which measures 17x20". i completely top stitched the entire thing in mustard yellow thread, to match the mustard fabrics i used, so it shows up nicely on the contrasting magenta fabrics. here are some pictures, of my first attempt, or as pat calls it, "my prototype" for winter/spring '09.

[click 'em to make 'em bigger!]




now knowing what i need to do differently and better, i am totally ready to start whipping up some new items for my new collection!! these little quilts can be used as wall hangings, tiny baby quilts, or doll quilts, and table mats! of course i will also be doing some larger quilts, as i had been doing before. (also in the planning stages: sewn birdie mobiles with real branches! this will take my sewing skills paired with my boyfriend's engineering/physics skills ;))

what do you think?