New happenings..

Happy Saturday!  I feel like I was very productive this week because I actually finished 2 small projects, and by small, I mean very small.  Nonetheless, they count as total victories.

City Craft is hosting the City Craft Pinterest Challenge (see link for complete details) to motivate us sewists to complete more projects, i.e. those we have pinned with every good intention to get done and have failed to do anything about thus far.  The motivation?  A new Janome sewing machine!!!!  That is pretty amazing motivation.  So, I joined the Flickr group and am excited to get some of these projects done asap.

Exhibit A:

This is a mini-coloring tote I made from this tutorial.  I made it as a present for a little girl's 5th birthday.  I tucked in a small notebook and a few crayons.  I'm not sure the little girl responded with the awe & admiration I felt was due to this masterpiece, but her mom thought it was cute, so overall, it was a success.  

Exhibit B: 

I made this open wide zippered pouch for no one in particular.  Maybe for me?  I followed the directions for a medium size pouch with a contrast bottom.  I added some fusible interfacing to the exterior fabric, but I think it was a little too heavy duty for the purposes of this pouch.  I also somehow made a little goof on the side seam and made a little tuck in the fabric where one ought not to be.  Oh, well.. you live, you learn.

I was really excited to get these 2 magazines from Joann's (& yes, I know the store is officially called Joann Fabric and Craft Stores, but I think Joann's sounds better, therefore I will most likely always call it Joann's).  There are some really beautiful projects in both of them, including the Marcelle Medallion in Love Quilting & Patchwork.  You can see some amazing examples of this pattern on Flickr, including this one and this one.   

Also, in Modern Patchwork, there is the Retro Rubies Wall Hanging pattern, which Alyssa Lichner of Pile O'Fabric authored.  She is also conducting a QAL using this pattern & the first bit of instructions should be posted on Monday, so it is not too late to join in.  Add yourself to the Flickr group too!  I ordered some half yards of these solids from Pink Chalk Fabrics to use in this project.  I ordered the reds, oranges & purples.  The description of the fabric states that they have an iridescent quality to them, but I'm not sure that I concur with that after examining them in person today.  I still think they will make a great project though.

My sister really liked this pillow pattern, so I'm thinking it would be a good idea for her birthday in July.  She is quite possibly the only person that reads this blog (besides myself when I re-read it over & over again, scouring for grammatical & punctuation errors), so I may have just shot myself in the foot on the surprise aspect of the gift.

I did get some new fabric in last week, including this fat eighth bundle of PB&J by BasicGrey for Moda,

a 10" square stack of Little Red Riding Hood by Tasha Noel for Riley Blake,

a charm pack of Avalon by Fig Tree & Co for Moda (this is not my typical style, but I really liked the combination of the blue, red & beige in this line.. also, I liked this tutorial from Moda Bake Shop).

 I love this quilt from Christa's Quilts...

so I bought some Kona Ash yardage and several Kona solid charm packs (new classic, dusty, bright & dark) to make one of my own.

I had to get a little bit of Anna Maria Horner's Field Study in linen for Free Spirit (this is Parenthetical in Deep).

I also really needed a little FQB of Locally Grown by Creative Thursday for Andover Fabrics.  I love the bright colors!

I couldn't resist getting a FQB of the new line by Sarah Watson for Art Gallery Fabrics, Indian Summer.

I think I should post a little more frequently because these posts are becoming a little jam-packed.  

What's been going on?

It's been a good week and I thank God for that.  My husband has had to work everyday this week, including today, usually more than 12 hours each day, but we are so thankful for the hours.  He works in commercial heating & air conditioning, so it's starting to be the busy season, especially here in TX.

I made this recipe for banana bread brownies, which is from the Facebook page for Parent's Room:

Ingredients:
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1-3/4 (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 c. butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375F. Grease and flour 15x10-inch jelly roll pan. For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts.

2. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.
4. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm). 

I would call it a cake instead of brownies, but it was delicious!

My mom liked my messenger bag so much that she asked me to make one for her.  She chose the same Joel Dewberry Home Dec prints, but in the citrine palette (also from Hawthorne Threads & on sale for $9.95/yd).

I also want to make a bag for my sister that would fit her laptop, so I purchased the Aeroplane Bag pattern from Sew Sweetness.  

I'm joining Pat Sloan's Charm-a-long.  I have had these charm packs of her Eat your Fruits N' Veggies print & batik lines for some time.  I love the bright, bold colors and was looking for a pattern for them.  I think I will pair them with a white background.  I love this look from The Cottage Home.

I finished the patchwork mini-quilt using Kaffe Fassett 6" charm squares.  I'm about to go give it to my friend for office wall decor.  I hope she likes it.

I am a member of the illustrious Pink Castle Fabrics Stash Stack Club since last August & I love the fact that every month I get a new fat quarter bundle of beautiful  fabric in a pre-selected color.  This is April's stack...

and here is all of the months from August 2012 to current (the whole first row & green & yellow in the 2nd row).  Do you see any other fabrics in there that you recognize ;) ?

Also, I made it last weekend to a garage sale that listed quilting supplies as one of its offerings.  I picked up a large stack of hexagons cut from vintage fabric.  Isn't that turtle just awesome?

I also picked up a package with several cathedral window patterns/instructions and some precut material for making them, also vintage.  The newspaper article shown is dated 1981 (before I was born!).

I am in the Skill Builder BOM hosted by Alyssa at Pile o' Fabric, but I am severly behind, so I hope to make some progress on my blocks this week & show you soon.  I also went a little crazy ordering some fabric a few days ago, so I'll show you my new beauties once they come in.  Have a great week!

Lots of firsts...

Okay, let me dive right in.  You remember that quilt top I showed you last time?  I was making the quilt to donate to an auction for the youth group at my church.  Well, here is the finished quilt..

The youth group auction was on Saturday night & I was really curious to see how it would do.  I was surprised & pleased to see it sell for $150, thanks, in part to my sister, who kept driving up the price.  I am so glad to have been able to help contribute, especially since my two lovely nieces are in the youth group & my son will be too in a few months (unbelievable!).

I also had been wanting to up my bag making game since so far I've only made simple totes & drawstring bags.  When I saw the Messenger Bag Tutorial, I decided to tackle it.  I ordered 3 prints from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom Home Dec line which Hawthorne Threads has on sale right now for $9.95/yard.  I bought the rest of my supplies from Joann.  

I consider myself almost a complete rookie when it comes to bag-making, but this tutorial was fairly easy to follow.  I would have to attribute any difficulty or confusion on my part to my lack of knowledge and experience.  It was difficult to sew though, even using the walking foot & denim needles, as is recommended.   I used 2 layers of duck cotton to make it extra stable and it was quite a challenge to move that thickness through the machine.  There are many, many mistakes and imperfections in my construction, but I am really happy with the bag & my efforts.  Please admire my handiwork..

(That's me trying to look artsy by not looking at the camera)

I finally got in my low volume fabrics to cut into fat quarters for the Modern Low Volume Fat Quarter Swap hosted by Kelly over at Live. Love. Create..  I hope to have those shipped out by Tuesday at the latest.  These 2 prints are from Tasha Noel's Little Red Riding Hood for Riley Blake.  I purchased these from Pink Castle Fabrics, one of my favorite online stores.

I just started working on my first mini-quilt; nothing special, just patchwork squares using a Kaffe Fassett charm pack in blues.  

I need to work on my FMQ & think that this mini will be a good opportunity to try something new.  I plan to gift it to a friend who just got her own office at work for some wall decor.

This week I want to make myself an apron also.  My sister was sweet enough to get me A is for Apron a few months ago and there are some really cute choices in there.  

I guess that's it for now.  Have a great week!

A Quilt Top & a Visit to a Fabric Shop

This week, I started making a quilt top to donate to my church for an auction to raise money for youth group activities.  I needed something I could complete quickly, since it is due this Sunday.  I've known about it for a while, but have been feeling wishy-washy about doing it.  (Will someone actually pay money for my creation or will there be the crushing sound of silence when it's up for auction?  Or  worse, will someone bid on it out of pity?  Pity for me?  Pity for the youth?)  Moving on.. I picked a Kona solids roll-up in the classic palette that I've had for a while & decided to sew them all together in the order they came in, except the neutrals.  I cut those into 5 strips & then added a gray on gray chevron print in between.  I'm hoping that the gray helps to calm the color chaos down a little.

What do you think?

It measures about 56" x 70", so a nice-sized throw or possibly even a twin.

I am using this flannel as backing fabric.

Today, my youngest son, Nathaniel, who is 4 years old, had a follow-up appointment with the pulmonologist at Children's Medical Center.  He was hospitalized in the ICU 2 times last year for severe asthma attacks.

This was taken in Sept 2012.  

Anyway, after the appointment, it occurred to me that since I was already in downtown Dallas, I might as well swing by a fabric shop that is close by.  I had never been to City Craft before, but had eyed it online several times, so I jumped on the chance to visit a modern fabric shop.  It is a cute shop with lots of great fabric lines.  I will definitely be going back soon to get some laminated cotton or oilcloth and some ruffle fabric.  Here are my treats from today:

I bought Aurifil thread for the first time, so I am excited to try it and see what all the fuss is about.  The top row of fabrics were from the remnant bin.  They include fabric from Washi, Bella, Notting Hill (home dec weight) and Typewriters by Melody Miller.  Typewriters is about 16" x WOF and was marked at $9.99, but happily, it was discounted to less than half at check-out.    

The other fabrics are 2 prints from the new Carnaby Street line, 4 prints in coordinating colors from Michael Miller's Stitch Square & Stitch Circle, another Bella print.  I'm not sure what the other fabric is, but I liked it.  

I'm very glad that I finally got to visit a new fabric store and one that is most certainly modern.  There are several more in the area that I want to visit, but they are even farther away, so I will just have to plan out some special trips in the near future.  

My sewing space & some garage sale finds

We bought this house in 2006 from my grandfather, who had it listed for sale.  He expressed his desire that it remain in the family since he had owned it from the time it was built in 1968.  My husband and I were looking for our first home at that time, and although it wouldn't have been our first choice, we bought it.  My grandfather passed away a year later.  

The house is a little under 1500 sq ft with 3 bedrooms, so with 3 children, there is little room for a sewing space of any kind.  Thankfully, my daughter's room has a pretty large walk-in closet, so that is my headquarters.

This is taken from the doorway of the closet.  

 Up here are my books, magazines, patterns, etc.

 Here is my t.v. tray helper table currently holding materials for the Pile O'Fabric Skillbuilder BOM & the Messenger Bag Tutorial from From The Blue Chair.

Here is my fabric & yarn stash, along with pending projects & misc. items up top.

 This is the very first quilt block I made at the Joann's class I took.

 My first Scrappy Trip Around the World block.

Lint I rolled off of a Kona solids Roll-Up.  I thought it looked so pretty, so I hung up the lint sheets.

I have to keep my iron & ironing board out in my daughter's room since it would be impossible to maneuver with it in here (at least without sustaining 3rd degree burns), but she hasn't complained yet.  It isn't the most comfortable space, but I am very thankful to have it.

My church had a massive garage sale this past week and I was able to score some pretty neat stuff.  

 Vintage thread for $1.  They're all on wooden spools.  The taller spools show the original price as ".15 for 125 yds of size 50 Bel-waxed Mercerized Cotton" and it is from Belding Corticelli thread co.  It also is stamped with "Fast to Boiling."

 The other side says "Belding Corticelli, 10 yds, size D, Pure Silk Twist"  

 These were also in the thread box.  Not sure what they are, but it looks like they have some kind of heat-fusible shiny material on one side of them.

 I am not sure how old these are, but the colors are all quite vibrant and I am really pleased with this find.

 I don't know how to knit, but I hope to teach myself one day, so how could I resist?

 This was $1 also.  It looks like it's selling for upwards of $40 on etsy/ebay.

 This was .25 for about 3/4 yd.

 .50 for 3.5 yds of this red gingham, but this is not quilter's weight cotton, so this might be good for a shirt.. maybe?  Not sure yet...

 These are either canvas or cotton duck, but the beige (1.5 yds) is much heavier than the white (a little more than 1 yd).  I paid $1 for both.

 These were together in a ziplock baggy for .25.  The print (almost a yard) is a home dec weight cotton & the black (approx 1/2 yd) is just regular old quilter's cotton.

 This one was .50 for 2 yards.

And this was also .50 for 2 yards.

Finally, this flannel was $1 for 2 yds.

Unfortunately, there are no labels along the selvages on any of these fabrics, so I have no info about any of them.  I do need to share one garage sale fail, though, and this fail was pretty epic..

I washed this one (which felt just like the other cotton duck fabrics) with the other fabrics & threw in 2 Shout Color Catchers for good measure.  I had no problems with bleeding, but this one had some kind of residue or something all over it that got on everything else, so I took this one out (not noticing the shredage) and put it in the dryer and rewashed the other fabrics.  When I opened the dryer door, the whole inside was covered with this black powdery residue.  I should have taken a picture.  I had to spend a good 30 min cleaning out the dryer and lint reservoir to make it usable again.  I would love to know what kind of fabric this was, so I can avoid it like the plague in the future.

Regardless, I feel pretty happy with my purchases.