A Few Little Things

I haven't posted any of my latest sewing projects. Hmmmm, well there are reasons of course. The first is that they were Christmas gifts and I didn't want them seen before hand. That is what these are....

 

I've never sewn much with knit before and it was interesting to say the least. After I figured out how to actually work with it, I enjoyed the process very much and have more in the works.  These are all for our little Kyndall Hope who is scheduled to arrive March 4, 2015.

The second reason I haven't posted anything is because I've just been BUSY. Life is full and I haven't been able to do much quilting at all. I'm still working on quilting the Christmas top I started in the fall. It wound up being 97x97 and a monster to maneuver on my little ole machine. I'm getting there, but I don't plan to EVER make such a large quilt again.

And the third reason is that I just forgot to take pictures of what I made.  The old brain is not as sharp as it once was folks.  Not only that, but it really didn't enter my mind to blog while in the frenzy of Christmas preparations and sewing. Guess I'm not as enthusiastic as I used to be, but that's ok.

I did manage to do something very special for my kids this year. I scanned countless photos of my ancestors, and created a book for them with names, dates and photos. I believe it was a hit for both of them and their spouses!

So what I have on tap now is finishing the quilt, doing a couple of knit items for Klaire and Kyndall, and starting the new Ocean BOM by Quiltart designs. I LOVE her paper pieced patterns and ideas. She is one talented cookie! Through the year, I'm hoping to quilt at least two of the waiting tops.

October

It's been a month since I posted. Just living life and busy, you know? I have been working diligently on a few things, and I finally finished a few of them.

I worked off and on this little Christmas dress for my princess Klaire. It wasn't difficult, just involved. And I kept getting distracted. I do like the way it turned out though.

I also finished a quilt for our upcoming little Kyndall.

I don't normally hand stitch binding, because...well...I'm impatient. And sometimes it makes my hands hurt because I can't seem to hold anything I'm stitching on with less than a death grip. Terrible habit.  This was a bit bulky though, due to the ruffle, so I toughed it out and hand stitched it. I have some little bibs and burp cloths done that go with it, and I'll post those next time.

I'm going to try my hand at making little tiny baby gowns for Kyndall. I've only really worked with knit once, and that was just recently when I made LMW a pair of pj bottoms. If there is a knack to it, I would welcome suggestions and advice. I plan to practice with a scrap of knit and see how I do. Wish me luck!

All Wrapped Up

I finished the Christmas quilt top and I'm more than pleased with it.

It's a pattern by Marjorie Rhine that is called "Gift Wrapped" and I think you can see why she named it so. I modified it to my own dimensions, and it's 96x96. I really didn't mean for it to be that large, but it will fit nicely on my bed for Christmastime. I didn't miter the corners, and all but one turned out pretty well anyway. I'm going to live with the fourth one, as I'm probably the only one who will care. *grin*

I plan to do a simple straight line quilting either in the ditch or to the side of the seams. And I'm not going to rush myself on it.

Now, I can move on to other pressing projects as Christmas quickly approaches.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Any David Bowie fans out there?
After thinking so very long about getting rid of the dresser in my sewing room...

I finally did. I moved some things around and now have a nice little "sit down and visit with me" space.

I LOVE IT! Both SR and LMW have taken advantage of the futon, sitting and talking with me while I sew. Well, LMW was actually playing on my tablet, but he WAS sitting there with me. *grin*

It was really hard getting rid of that dresser because my Dad made it for me, but I felt it was time.

The futon opens up to a full size bed, so there is extra sleeping space for guests or grandkids now. It makes my space seem much more open and inviting.

I'm one of those people who are never really satisfied with how the furniture is arranged, and I'm always thinking of how I could use the space more efficiently. I can honestly say that I believe I have finally managed to satisfy myself with this room. Other than gutting it and buying everything new, this is the best arrangement. Yay me!

Sneak Peek

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

WIP First two rows. I don't normally do Christmas stuff this early, but as you know, quilts take time and you have to start early.

(And no, the lighter color is not pink. The lighting in my sewing room is not made for photos.)

A Before and After

My mother-in-law had an old ottoman that had seen better days, and she asked me if I wanted it. At first I said no.

 You can see why, can't you? And that isn't even the worse side. I had to do a little "taping therapy" on it, so that the holes wouldn't get any larger.
This is what I did with it. I used some really pretty fabric I bought from Ozark Fabrics by Hillbilly Tonya on Facebook. I didn't know what I would use it for when I bought it, but I found something worthy of it. *grin*

 As you can see, it is in front of a futon. Which is another new addition to my sewing room. When I get the wall above it like I want, I'll show you that before and after.

I quilted the top, and used elastic around the side seam and bottom. I killed two birds this way....gathering it and keeping it tight on the ottoman. It pulls underneath for a good fit. It didn't take long and I'm pretty happy with it.

Two Finishes...Yay Me!

In all the hubbub that's been my life, I carved out some time to do these two baby quilts for the NICU. The first one is just a jumble of fabrics I grabbed out of my stash and blocked with scraps. I didn't do a lot of quilting on it, just the seams and corner to corner in the large areas. It's pretty colorful and I like it even though it's simple. It's sort of an Eye Spy, so that's what I'll call it.

 The next one actually began with the backing. All those red polka dots and the little daisies inspired me to do something in pink and red.

I love all the hour glass/bow tie blocks in this one. And I took some extra backing and appliqued three of the daisies onto the front to give it a little bling. I named it Daisy Chain.

I learned something from binding this little number. Normally, I sew the binding on the front first, then fold it over and press to the back, stitching in the ditch from the front.  I decided to leave off the pressing this time to see what would happened. I sewed it onto the back first and just folded it over as I stitched along on the front. I have to say that I believe this is the best job of binding I've ever done. Yay Me!

I have several larger quilts just calling out to me. They say, "Quilt me! Quilt me! I've been sitting here for months waiting for you! Please choose me!" I really don't like to leave a lot of UFOs....BUT I have some other projects I want to start. Maybe I just need to keep two sewing machines up and going all the time. One for quilting and one for piecing. I bet some of you do just that, don't you?!