WIP Wednesday

Not a lot of sewing going on around here this week.  Between a cold and getting ready to spend over a week traveling for work it has been a little crazy.  In fact while most of you are reading this I will be on a plane on my way to Winnipeg.  I did manage to get a angel gift made for the Sewing Room Swap and I did a much better job of taking pictures along the way on this project.

DS Fabrics and Kona

This partner wanted some storage for her sewing space or something she could use to take projects with her to sewing days.  I was thinking from the start that I would make a social tote-but before I ordered the pattern I found out she already had it.  Of course then I couldn't make it so I switched gears and tried to come up with something else.  I found this tutorial online and thought why not.

Then I got sick.  Turns out sewing piping for the very first time while a fever is cooking your brain isn't always the best idea.  And cutting circles that are bigger than anything you have to trace in your house-well that could have been a disaster.  Luckily the hubs was feeling nice and helped me out with a piece of wire and a pencil.

Adding the piping

If I were to make this sewing caddy again there are a lot of things I would do differently.  The extremely stiff interfacing on the sides of the caddy made it very hard to turn and with as many times as they tell you to flip it back and forth mine ended up coming lose and you have to have it secured for it to work out.  

Almost done-just needs the bottom

The instructions also don't call for you to use interfacing in the bottom of the basket but if I were making it again I would use something for sure.  Even if you don't want to go with the heavy weight even a medium weight like what is used in the handles would have been better than nothing.  Oh and those handles-I would make them a little larger as well.

Finished basket-lots of pockets

So that was my project for this week-its off on an international adventure now and I've got my fingers crossed this one will actually get where it is going.  Be sure to head over to Lee's to see what everyone else is up to this week.

WIP Wednesday

So after my big push last week to get the top of Sunny Trails sewn together I ended up not doing much more sewing.  I did cut pieces for my Swell quilt bases on a pattern in Camille's book but I didn't start sewing yet.

I'm kind of stuck on this one.  I really like the panel-it was inspired by this postage stamp quilt.  And I ordered my panel not long after specifically to use with this Swell fabric but it has just been sitting waiting.  And now I feel stuck.  I didn't realize the inside of this quilt was so small.  The pattern in the book calls for adding 3 boarders but I don't really like the thought of that with this panel.  To me it feels like it's just too much going on in such a small space.  Of course there is no way I will find more Swell fabric.  I'm thinking about just making it a baby quilt but I don't really need anymore baby quilts sitting around.  These would be number 3 in just the last few months.

What would you do?  Make it a baby quilt?  Add the boarders?  Any other creative solutions?

Also up this week I have had a cold, a dentist appoint-terrified by the way so it was a big deal, and a birthday.

Head on over to Lee's to see what everyone else is up to.

PS-My mom and dad got me a beautiful set of Nordika Fat Quarters for my birthday so I'm already plotting what I want to make.  I've seen some beautiful patterns made out of it and my brain is already on overload to find the perfect one.

Worthy Cause

If you have been following along for a while you know I work for a nonprofit that provides free surgeries to repair cleft lips.  I thought I would share with all of you a very cool app.  My charity has been lucky enough to partner with Johnson and Johnson for a while now and this app is just another piece in our partnership. But maybe helping with free surgeries isn't your thing-that's okay there are a lot of other great organizations that you can help as well.  Chances are you are sharing photos on instagram, facebook, and flickr anyway. Why not put those photos to work helping some great causes.  Here are a few of my favorites that have been donated this week.

The app is free and you can choose to share or just donate the photos through the app.  No mom you don't have to have facebook to participate in this one just download the app.  

WIP Wednesday

So we finally moved into our new digs at work.  I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to be out of what was defiantly a sick building and into a nice new space that is clean.  Better yet it's not an old warehouse so there is this thing called sunshine that actually makes it into the building.

I made a lot of good progress this week in the way of sewing and actually managed to finish up the top to my Sunny Trails quilt.  I really like this pattern and I'm a little disappointed that it's only baby size.  I don't know how I missed that when I decided to make this way back in 2011 but I guess now I have another baby quilt that will be finished and waiting should someone I know decide to have a little girl.

A few things about this pattern that aren't deal breakers but good to know.  The blocks actually rotate direction every other one but this isn't spelled out in the directions.  So if you are using a directional print like the text prints in the Sunkissed line I used you could end up with words going every other way.  Lucky for me I'm not the most patient person so I tried laying out my first row once I had four blocks made and saw the error.  So I made 10 blocks one way and 10 blocks the other so that the top went together nicely. There are photos of both blocks in the pattern but if you don't catch it you could wind up in trouble.

This was right after it was hung so I still have a lot
more treasures to fill it in

In other news the hubs helped me hang up the shelf in my sewing room.  It's hard to tell that it is a beautiful shade of pale aqua in the photos but I love it.  It gives me a place to put my quilting books and some gifts from some of my sewing friends.  I want to hang up a photo or two but it really does add so much to the space.

I was having a little too much fun on PicMonkey this week trying out the new Halloween effects and since I won't be back from Canada until the day before Halloween I thought I would go ahead and share my Zombie photo.  Besides Walking Dead is coming back this Sunday and its a favorite show for both the hubs and me so it seemed like a appropriate.

No we aren't really gray and covered in blood.

Be sure to head over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to.

Not So Sunny Trails

My birthday is in a little over a week and for some reason for the last few years I have freaked out about getting another year older.  Maybe it's because things are different then I expected them to be not bad just different.  Maybe it's because I start obsessing about all the things I still want to accomplish.  At any rate I tend to freak out.  Part of this years freak out has included this overwhelming need to finish outstanding projects.  I don't know why-maybe because I feel like I can't start new projects until some of the old ones are finished.

One of those projects that has been lingering around is my Sunny Trails quilt.  It's hard to believe I first started sewing these blocks back in 2011.  Sometimes I am amazed at just how long things have been sitting around unfinished.  I really thought this one was no more than a year old but in searching for the original post I found it in January 2011.  I started this quilt such a long time ago and unfortunately it has those stupid stitch and flip blocks in it and mine don't seem to be lining up.  I think that is one of the reasons I put this away to start with.  But now I have about half of the blocks made so I am sure I can finish this.

I think one of the hardest things is to pick up a project you worked on a long time ago.  As your skills improve you know these blocks aren't great.  But I love these fabrics and this pattern so I am just making it work.  Hopefully the quilting will make it a little less obvious and it won't be all bumpy lumpy.

Swaps!

I recently participated in several swaps.  Two of them were charm square swaps and I can't wait to make something amazing with my low volume charms and my Anna Marie Horner charms.  They are both going to be great projects at least in my mind but there are oh so many projects in front of those.

But I also had a chance to participate in two swaps where I made something special for someone else and in return got something made special just for me.  And let me tell you after not receiving a pillow in the swap I did with my local guild I had all but sworn off swaps.  These two packages more than made up for any bad experience I have ever had in a swap.  So I'm looking forward to participating in more swaps in 2014.

Look at this amazing sewing machine cover I got in the sewing room swap.  As soon as this one came up in the flickr pool I had added it to my favorites.  I mean whats not to love it has a patchwork sewing machine on one side and sew with a heart.  Plus it is made out of Bonnie and Camille fabrics.

Then in the Sew Sew Modern swap I got the best package of Christmas spirit you could ask for.  I've been in love with Camille's Christmas Stockings forever and have had them in my flickr favorites for a long time. So I was super excited when my swap partner actually made me a set of two for my little family.  She also sent a long a ton of great extra treats in the package.