overcome your fear of needles
I have been promising Gianna a quilt since I finished Duncan’s. I had promised myself (and her) that I would purchase the fabric after I had released the Mommy Poppins Bag pattern. It’s always nice to reward hard work with pretty fabric isn’t it?
Gianna has a sweet romantic heart and adores roses and pretty dainty things. She asked for her quilt to be a “rose quilt”. [Read more...]
Spring Weather = plenty of Hand Stitching Time in the yard while the kids play.
So much time, in fact, that I have all 56 hexagons attached to the quilt (some are not sewn all the way on yet). It certainly went faster than expected. I think it needs just three more hexagons on the left side to balance it out properly. [Read more...]
Just when I had thought I was getting a hang of the things, Vinny started to display a not-so-sweet personality. He is not quite colicky in the “inconsolably screamy” sort of way, but rather a “need to be constantly soothed (rocked, held, nursed, bounced, repeat, repeat, repeat…) and unable to sleep any amount of time on his own” way.
This is his favorite way of being held by me. Note how it is not even the slightest bit sweet or cuddly, and how there isn’t a baby carrier that can mimic this position. sigh.
With all sitting to hold and nurse the baby I have been doing, I decided to try my hands at learning how to “English Paper Piece” a baby quilt for the grumpy little man.
This is just a quick message to say…
>> Hand Sewing for Hot Weather <<
I’ve already tried a bit of embroidery last week. Next up? English paper piecing!
or maybe a nap… a nap would be nice.
I’ve been wracking my brain all week trying to figure out what sort of sewing-blogging-related goals I wanted to set for 2013, and I’ve been coming up empty. Monthly challenges worked out so well in 2010 and 2011, but I don’t think it would be feasible with a baby due to arrive in approximately 8 weeks. Then, I thought choosing a “Word of the Year” would be fun… but somehow SURVIVE doesn’t seem inspiring or motivational.
In fact, I am starting to feel more than a bit panicky about the short amount of time left before the little dude arrives. I have so many things I want to accomplish, and, as always, I have to let things go. Gutting my WIP pile was leaving me depressed and moody, so I decided to do a sewing-mojo-boosting, palette-cleansing sort of project. The result is a new Planner Cover for my 2013 Planner Pad. (A tutorial is included at the end of this post.)
Palette cleansing projects require the very happiest of fabrics to work properly. So, I broke into my precious LillyBelle stash for this one.
LillyBelle lends itself well to fussy-cutting and pattern matching and other sorts of thrilling sewing challenges.
It was Andy’s idea to pattern-match the tab closure, and at first, I thought he was ridiculous for suggesting such silliness and I told him so. But… clearly it was meant to happen, because it did.
See how perfectly it worked out? Best. Fabric. Print. Ever.
When I sewed the last stitch of the binding, I let out a deep sigh of sanctification…
and then I noticed it.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tears were shed. Big. Snotty. Sobbing Tears.
Then the next morning, a bit of hand-stitching saved the day.
And now, resolutions or not, I am ready for 2013.
Bring it.
[tutorial after jump]
[Read more...]
I like to sew. I have 5 kids. I like to sew. I am married to a poet. Have I mentioned I like sewing?
This blog is about my reckless pursuit of sewing knowledge.
