WIP Wednesday

Another Wednesday has rolled around...something tells me the next few will be just as quick.  Is it me or is time going by lightning fast lately?

My WIPs this week are nearly the same as my last check in, with a couple of additions.  The biggest of which is my new sewing room.  Hubs and I decided to switch places with my sewing space and the boys' school room, so I am now upstairs on the main floor.  Yay!

please forgive the graininess - lights weren't set up yet.  :)

I have a long way to go to make it work, but it will get there.  I'm going with a soft green (Jardin, by Sherwin Williams, to be exact) but have no clue when the actual painting will begin.  Mostly because I'm working on three new quilts.

That's right...three.   Though, admittedly not all must be done before Christmas.

Quilt #1 is for my dad for Christmas.  I bought some wonderful camper fabric a while back and have been wanting to make him one for a while.  Lots of teals, grays, and touches of orange.   All mixed with a good bit of white, of course.  I'm using Faith's Lemon Squares quilt tutorial...and love it.  I have four of the six block types done - well over halfway!

Quilt #2 is the Charmed Prints Quilt Along I talked about on Monday.  I now have all of my diamond-in-a-square blocks done and a few stars.  Hope to finish them tonight, which means I'd better get crackin'.  Of course, this is the one that doesn't really need to be done by Christmas, though I would love to have it ready for the boys that morning.  :)

It was a little of a bear to get organized, but that's mostly because I was dead-set on chain stitching similar blocks.  If I just went by the layout, I probably could have saved quite a few stickies...

Quilt #3 is a surprise.  Sorry.  I know s/he reads this blog so that's all you're going to see on that one.  Good news is that it will be delivered by Christmas, so you don't have very long to wait.  Blues, teals, and whites on this one.  :)

Other remaining projects really haven't moved much.  I need to piece the back for Sierra's quilt and get it ready to quilt.  Mexican and Bethlehem stars are still as they were.  One day, one day...

Happy Wednesday...don't forget to link up with Lee!

because i have nothing else to do...

I spent the day at home, sick - again - today.   I'm really getting tired of this.  At least, though, I was healthy over Thanksgiving.  The long weekend was just wonderful.  My mom had to work on Thanksgiving Day, so my parents had us all over for dinner the night before.  That pretty much meant that Thursday - Saturday was uninterupted free time at my house.  Oh, yeah, and they kept the kids, too!  (don't throw things at me!)

Lots of quilting and cleaning.  We're in the process of shifting my sewing space into the school room and vice versa.  The boys will have a much bigger space downstairs, and I'll be more cozy in my little area.  On top of all that, and trying to finish Sierra's quilt, I've started three new quilts.  One for my dad for Christmas, one surprise that I can't show, and the GenX Quilters' Quilt Along.

I know, I know, I needed the quilt-along like I needed a bump on the head, but I just couldn't resist.  I had half of a Odyssea layer cake left over from another project, which divides perfectly into two charm packs.  There are options to make a crib quilt with one pack, or a lap with two.  The boys have been bugging me for another quilt in the living room, so here it is.  Maybe for Christmas???  We'll see...

The quilt is mostly charms with a few "highlight" blocks mixed in.  Stars, Churn Dash (or Greek Cross), Diamond in a Square, and Pinwheel.  I finished a star and churn dash earlier this week and then decided to reorganize.  I shifted gears, cut all the fabric for my highlight blocks, labelled the devil out of them with stickies and pins.  Stopping to organize helped a lot, though, as I finished all the diamond ones tonight and will soon have the others.  They go so much faster when I can chain piece!

 

As soon as my room gets set up, I'll be posting lots of pictures.  I will be painting, decorating, and doing all that fun stuff.  I wasn't able to do all that in the basement for, well, lack of walls.  

Oh... and hubs has told me he'd help me make a design wall.  Eep!!

Happy Monday, ya'll!

class winners!

Good morning, everyone. Time to announce winners of the tote bag classes....

Congratulations to.... Julie and MadCraftyMama!




Look for an e-mail from me shortly!

Finished it Friday

Hi everyone!

Another week in the books...and boy, am I glad.  Except for class days, I've been home sick every day this week.  And I even missed three classes on Tuesday.  Whatever it is that has me simply won't let go!  Hopefully today will be my last sick day for a while.  I'm fortunate that I don't get sick often, but when I do, it's a doozy.

So - finishes this week?  Believe it or not, I did have a couple.

The first is from Saturday, when I finished this tote bag using an online sewing class by Trish Preston.  (Don't forget about the giveaway - comments are open 'til Monday.) 




Next up is a quilt top. And, yes, I count quilt tops as finishes.  I say we celebrate every step.   :)




The pattern is Alice, by Rita at Red Pepper Quilts and it's for my niece, who turns 16 in January.  I think it is a perfect fit.  I'm debating straight-line quilting on this one, but still a little undecided.  Would love to know your thoughts on that...

Don't forget to link up your finishes below...and here's the new button for your blog!  Just copy the HTML in the box below the button and paste it in your blogpost or sidebar.  Let me know if you have questions!  :)




<a border="0" href="http://www.stitchingbystarlight.com/search/label/Finished%20it%20Fridays"><img src="http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u326/jeepmama_nc/FinishedFridays200.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Finished it Fridays!" /></a>

Have a wonderful weekend!

tote bag and a giveaway

***comments and giveaway closed***

A few weeks ago, Trish from Two Peas in a Pod Designs asked if I would review a new online sewing class that she has put together.  It was for a tote bag and I jumped at the chance.  I'm so in love with making pouches and bags right now that I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.







I've never taken an online sewing class, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I've always been just fine with written instructions, so I was curious how the videos would help...or, honestly, if they would help.  Boy, did they ever!

I dug up some Kaffe Fassett fabric I had purchased recently and got to work. The class is broken up into three video segments, which came in really handy for me.  With life being what it is right now, I needed something that I could break into smaller pieces.  The bag itself probably took only a couple hours (minus the time I spent ripping seams because I didn't follow instructions!) but I can only sew for 30-45 minutes at a time here lately, so being able to break it up was a lifesaver.

And here's my bag!








I'm so tickled with how this turned out!!  The bag has boxed corners - a must for me - as well as interior pockets and a snap!  This was the first time I put in a snap and it was...forgive me...a snap!  I'm not sure why they intimated me so much before.  I love the tie-front, too.  I'm not one for big bows, so the little tie is perfect for adding just the right amount of contrast and detail to make this bag really pop.

The handle length (about a 14-inch drop) is perfect and I've carried this bag every day since finishing.  It's big enough to hold my laptop, yet the pockets mean I can keep up with things such as my phone and car keys very easily.  Love!!

On top of wonderful step-by-step written instructions, Trish's videos highlight a lot of tips and tricks that were very helpful.  I used my iPad to watch the videos, so I had them right beside me at the sewing table, but you would probably do just fine to watch the video a time or two and then follow the written instructions.  Everything is very clear and simple.







And now, to celebrate....Trish is allowing me to give away two free classes!

Leave a comment here to enter, and I will pick two lucky winners at random next week.  Comments will be open until midnight on Monday, November 21st (EST) and I will announce the winners next Tuesday.

And for those who don't want to wait - go check out the class now.  You can purchase one through PayPal and get started right away!

Happy Sewing!

Finished it...um...Saturday?

I feel like a goober.

The past two days have been nuts and, well, I simply forgot to create this week's Finished it Friday post.

I was at a work conference all day on Friday, from which I went straight to a wedding rehearsal and dinner.  Then, of course, today was the wedding.

Remember the Flipside quilt? The most wonderful babysitter ever? Yup - her wedding. We've been at the church since eleven this morning. The wedding was spectacular and the bride was gorgeous. Just like we knew she would be. :)

All that to say... I hope you'll forgive my lack-of-posting. However, there is good news!


If you remember from last week, Kimberlee over at Spunky Diva has started co-hosting with me. This week is her first week to play hostess and she was right on time! The link party is still open, too...so head on over there and show us what you finished!!!

misfits hoop swap

I don't know about you - but I'm addicted to swaps. Have you ever participated in one? The first few I was in were block swaps, which are fun, but I'm now into what I like to call "finished product" swaps.

About a month ago, I found the Misfit Quilters website, and they were just starting an Embroidery Swap and, seeing how I had just started with embroidery, I decided to give it a go.  I lucked up and got someone I already knew for a partner, so it was double fun.

In the intro e-mail, Katherine said she was, "dreaming of a bike...maybe with a flower basket, or a wagon, or a tricycle, or an umbrella...Something sweet and cheerful, and something with blue and red."  So, this is what I came up with...





Katherine and I have been friends on twitter for a while and she's been in three other swaps with me (two of which she's been the mama for!) and so she knows my, um, dislike for the Pips.  (Please don't shoot!!).  She, on the otherhand, loves them, and the instant I saw her name, I knew my hoop would somehow involve Sherbet Pips despite the fact that I owned not one stitch.

Thanks to the generosity of my other twitter friends Carolyn and Selina, I didn't have to buy any fabric.  They both sent me more than enough Pips scraps to get this done.  The bike is a freebie embroidery pattern from Early Bird Special that I downloaded and then I matched up my threads to the colors in the Pips line.  And of course, one of the scraps was perfect for a little hexie, so I couldn't resist adding it.  :)

As fate would have it, Katherine had drawn my name, too.  I had asked for something whimsical and bright, and this was her take on that, with lots of fun extras.




How darling is this??  Katherine drew the design herself and included extra floss, and some neat little gadgets.  I'm particularly excited about the "Jean-a-ma-jig" as I'm hoping to do a half-square triangle quilt soon and this will help me get over those stubborn, thick seams.  That, and I didn't even know such a thing existed.  Very cool.

I have a couple more swaps in the works.  I was in a post-Sewing Summit pouch/mini swap which was mailed off on Monday and we're exchanging pot-holders at the Triad MQG meeting tonight.  I'm lucky enough to know my partner in that one, too.  Heehee!!

Jane's Black and White Quilt

Quite some time ago - way back in April, to be exact - I told you all about a black-and-white quilt I had started for my friend, Jane.  Fast forward through too many months (sorry it took so long, girl!) and it's finally finished...




The pattern is Full Swing by Rachel Griffith (which is free at the Fat Quarter Shop, by the way!) and I used a black-and-white bundle from Fabricworm.  The back is a gorgeous fabric I picked up at a almost-local quilt store in Charlotte.  The white is, of course, Kona White, which I buy by the bolt now...LOL!




Jane has been waiting forever for this quilt, and I had hoped to finish it on the road trip to Savannah yesterday, but apparently 5 hours isn't enough to put on binding... oy!!  I was able to finish it this afternoon, though, as she and some others were touring downtown Savannah.




So, when I finished taking pictures, I went upstairs to her room and spread it across her bed. Can't wait to hear her squeal when she sees it. :)




Hope you love it, Jane!
 





Linked up at these parties....

Finished it Friday! (and some changes)

Good morning from wonderfully beautiful Tybee Island!  I'm down here for a long girls' weekend, and we are having a blast.  I hope you'll excuse the late post...but I couldn't resist the urge to sleep in this morning.  :)

Today is the first day of the "New and Improved" Finished it Friday.  A few weeks ago, Kimberlee from Spunky Diva contacted me asking if I'd like to have a co-host for Finished it Fridays and I gladly accepted.  She has a wonderful blog (you should definitely go visit her soon) and I'm happy to partner up with her.

Kimberlee will be the FiF hostess on the 2nd and 4th Fridays, and you'll find us here on the 1st and 3rd.  We plan to have special events on the 5th Fridays - so keep an eye out for those.  In the meantime, here's a new button you can use on your blog when you link up.  :)




As of right now, I don't have any finishes to post - but I'm hoping to have one later today.  I've got one in the works and am desperately hoping to link it up to Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival, which ends today -- eek!!  ETA - I got it done!!!  Be sure to check out Jane's Black and White Quilt post.


In the meantime - show us what you finished!!!