She Sews

A Blankie for Barron

2012-01-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

I needed a last minute gift for a one year old's birthday party... so what did I do? I made a sweet little blanket with Barron's name on it.

I had a great polk dotted flannel for the back of the blanket but for the front, the only fabric I had was plain white. I thought the applique letters would add a little something...

Around the edges, I did a decorative star top stitch which turned out pretty cute.

I didn't get to see Barron open his gift at the party but his parents told me they are going to use this blanket as a wall hanging above Barron's bed. Sounds like this last minute gift turned out to be a success!

Finally, a New Project!

2011-11-19T23:56:00.000-08:00

The last couple of months have been hectic. I found out I was pregnant, we traveled to Phoenix to visit my sick uncle, we moved... I have hardly had any time to sew. But now we are relatively settled in our new place & I can get started on all the projects that have been floating around in my head for weeks! I have such big plans for baby (not to mention holiday gifts)!

My brother and his family are coming tomorrow to stay the whole week for Thanksgiving. Last night, I found time to make a cute pink tote for my niece.

It only took about 2 hours. I'm surprised at how quickly I can knock a project like this out- especially considering that I didn't sew a stitch 10 months ago.

Now, on to the next project!

LA Modern Quilt Guild Anniversary Swap

2011-10-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's the 2nd anniversary of the LA Modern Quilt Guild! To celebrate, members are participating in a swap. We put together a quart size bag of fabrics & did a blind swap at the last meeting. Each person could request something special and the only real rule was that you could only add 1 fabric to whatever you were making.

The person I got requested kitchen items like hot pads, place mats, oven mitt, etc. She said if I was really daring, she would love a electric mixer cover. So what did I do? I got daring!

She included a bunch of different fabrics that I would never personally choose to use in my projects so it was a bit of a challenge trying to figure out how to use them all. I added Kona Snow because it seemed to tie all the fabrics together.

Overall, I think everything turned out really well. I loved the hot pad pattern I found over at Sew Mama Sew and plan to use it for easy holiday gifts this year.

I am especially proud of the mixer cover because I basically eyeballed the whole thing- no pattern. How have you fared when working from scratch without a pattern?

For Baby Deron

2011-08-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

My co-worker's baby shower was on Sunday. I was so excited to give her the quilt, receiving blanket, bibs and burp clothes I made for her! They were a huge hit with her & her husband as well as both grandmas. I am so proud!

Since she decorated her nursery with monkeys, I just had to find a cute monkey pattern. I am really happy with the one I found- the monkeys all look like Curious George. Because of that, I had to include this really nice hardbound collection of Curious George stories with the other gifts. I also threw in a onesie with a monkey applique.

Can't wait to start making goodies for our own nursery!

Organization? Yes, Please!

2011-07-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July weekend, my cousin mentioned how much she would like to have a wall caddy to organize little odds & ends. Of course I thought what a perfect little project! So yesterday, I dropped by my favorite fabric shop Sew Modern and picked up a couple of cute fabrics I knew my cousin would like. I used the great book Sew What! Bags by Lexie Barnes as my guide. It was a really quick and easy project- even the pleated pockets weren't too complicated. I'll be sending it off tomorrow- hope she likes it!

What do you think?

For Little MJ

2011-07-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

When I got the invitation to my little baby cousin's baptism next weekend,

I got right to work on a baby quilt for him.

See these cute little owls? They were my inspiration.

I did simple 9 patch blocks which went around a block of solid white.

The back was pieced with strips of fabric used in the blocks.

All rolled up & ready to give!

I think it turned out great- I am really proud. The straight line quilting

went so fast (especially compared to quilting Big Orange)!

Pretty Pillowcases

2011-06-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

On my recent trip to Oregon, I was able to drop by The Pine Needle Quilt Shop in Lake Oswego, just outside of Portland. It was a really cool shop with lots of quilts, fabrics and kits. I picked up a pillowcase kit because it reminded me how my mom, aunt and grandmother used to give pillowcases as gifts. Here's an example of a pillowcase my grandma made:

It's simple- just white cotton fabric and brown embroidery/crochet round the opening. I am definitely not proficient enough in needlework to do something quite like this but I knew I could at least sew some fabric together!

It was a fun and easy little project which you can do with or without the piping. I did a decorative stitch around the opening, which probably would have worked a bit better in brown thread.

I made these in about 1.5 hours (sometimes being distracted by old Ugly Betty episodes) so it's a really quick little project. It was nice to start and finish something so quickly, especially after all the hours it took to finish Big Orange.

Goodbye Big Orange

2011-06-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

I finished it!

Hours and hours of orange madness and pushing & pulling the giant thing through the mouth of my sewing machine...

It actually turned out pretty nice for my first big quilt. (It was actually a lot bigger than I expected!) I quilted with 3 thread colors- orange, brown & blue. It looked really nice but definitely added to the quilting time.

Speaking of time, I had sort of a deadline to meet because I delivered the quilt in person while we were visiting in another state. I used the machine to finish the binding because everything I read told me it would be fast and it was. I followed the instructions I found on several sites & in a video tutorial but the binding turned out a bit weird with the visible zig zag stitches... It's all part of the quilt's charm, right?

I even made sure to include a label although I guess I maybe should have mentioned that it was pieced & quilted by me. Next time, I will be more detailed.

Oh Baby!

2011-05-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

I took a class last Saturday to learn how to make baby stuff- receiving blankets, bibs & burp cloths. It was a lot of fun and SO easy! I also learned how to do applique, which will come in handy for lots of projects.

I've been working on 3 sets of baby things for my friends, 2 of whom are pregnant and 1 who just had her baby. I am so excited to give this stuff away!

This first set is brown flannel with Riley Blake fabric- the animals are Hooty Hoot Tossed Animals and the dots are All Star Mini Dots. I made a baby quilt with this same animal print for this mama as well.

This shows a close up of both the applique & the decorative top stitching around the edges.

This set is my favorite! I used Modern Workshop Roundabout Dots in Courtyard Green by Liesl Gibson for Moda. The monkeys were a lucky find at a huge fabric warehouse- not sure of the line. This mama will also get a baby quilt featuring the monkeys.

The fabric here is Timeless Treasures Yellow Tossed Monkeys and Kona solids for the applique. I only had enough for the blanket, which is fine since this is for the baby who is a couple months old. (He got other goodies from us when he was born.) I have a feeling my friend is going to love the bright yellow, which I kinda hate. Glad I could use it up and give it away.

I loved making these! It is so great to actually make something and feel proud of it. Now, can this be my job?

Progress

2011-05-19T23:54:00.000-07:00

So, I finally broke down and started quilting big orange. I couldn't hold out any longer! It has to be completely finished and ready to give to my best friend in 2 weeks. She's graduating from grad school and thinking of moving to Alaska- I have to send her off with something to keep her warm!

I decided to quilt in concentric squares on each unique square of the quilt pattern. Its mostly outline quilting with a little free form thrown in. The outlines actually look pretty cool on the back- I'm not even minding my not-so-straight lines! I was really scared to start but its turning out pretty well. I see a few tiny puckers here and there but I think they will work themselves out once the quilt is washed.

I have also been busy on other quilting projects. I have finished 2 quilt tops- one for me (the purple/teal/green) and a baby quilt for a friend.

Two more baby quilts are in the works and then...who knows?

Farmer's Market Tote

2011-05-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here's what I made in my latest class:

Cute, right? The pattern is adapted from Joel Dewberry’s Sewn Spaces and the fabric is Jenean Morrison's Silent Cinema.

I originally planed to give it away as a present but I like it so much that I am keeping it all to myself!

Getting Ahead of Myself

2011-05-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, ok... so I haven't actually finished the orange quilt just yet. I did finally find some time to get advice from the nice folks over at Sew Modern on just how I should quilt the orange wonder. (Thanks Lauren!) Now I just have to jump in. What am I so afraid of?

While psyching myself out over the quilting of the orange quilt, I decided to take a slight detour and just start some of the piecing on my second big quilt. Here's what I have so far:

I am just dying over the fabric! It's from Joel Dewberry called Aviary2. Purple & green were my wedding colors so I definitely love this color combination! I am piecing rows and alternating the pieced rows with white sashing. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Updates forthcoming on the quilting of big orange...

Almost Done!

2011-05-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

My first full sized quilt is almost done! I have pieced and sewed and ironed and sandwiched and basted.... All that's left is the actual quilting and binding.

My big dilemma at the moment is how to actually quilt the thing. I took a free motion quilting class last week and let me tell you, I sucked at it- hard. I couldn't get the right combination of movement and speed and my quilt samples just looked like a kid's scribbles. So so sad!

I will likely stick to good ol' straight line stitching with this quilt- probably stitch in the ditch or outline stitching around all the boxes. We'll see where inspiration takes me...

New Projects

2011-04-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm SO excited about my next 2 projects!

Here's a sneak peek:

After these, my next project will be a baby quilt for my pregnant co-worker. This will be the main fabric:

I can't wait!

Jungle Baby Quilt

2011-04-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends is having a baby and I wanted to do something special for her that would be sweet and meaningful. I have always thought that handmade gifts are so much more thoughtful than something store bought so before I started my quilting classes, I began working on a cross stitch baby quilt kit.

It's really cute and I think it is turning out really well but now part of me is thinking I should do something else instead. About a week ago, I saw the cutest baby gift on The Quilt Engineer Blog in which Latifah made a baby quilt, ball, bibs, burp cloths and onesie and tied it all up in a really lovely basket. I would LOVE to do something similar for my friend.

In May, I will be taking a class to learn how to make bibs & burp cloths so maybe I'll just keep the cross stitch quilt for myself. Not quite sure what to do just yet but regardless, my new craft has totally inspired me to be a better gift giver. Now, if I just had more hours in the day to sew!

How a Pillow Saved My Life

2011-04-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Or more accurately, how a pillow convinced me that all of this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be...

2 weeks ago, I took another class at my favorite fabric shop Sew Modern. I learned how to make an envelope pillow and it was SO easy and fun!

Here is the front & back:

Here is a detail of the decorative stitching I did on the opening:

Basically, these are so easy that I could make several of them per day. Its just a square for the front & 2 overlapping rectangles for the back. It would be cute to do an applique on the front but I don't think I'm quite that ambitious yet.

These are 2 of the fabrics that will also be used on my first full sized quilt so when I give the quilt away, this pillow will be going with it. The orange is such a happy, vibrant color- I can't wait to see how the quilt turns out.

My First Quilt

2011-04-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

My beginning quilting class, A Modern Quilt From Start to Finish, was a really great introduction to quilting. The teacher, Alissa Haight Carlton was fun and made all of us newcomers feel totally comfortable.

The project was a small, modern baby quilt or wall hanging which was improvisationally pieced together. We did "wonky log cabin" blocks. (From Wikipedia: Log cabin quilts are pieced quilts featuring blocks made of strips of fabric typically encircling a small centered square (traditionally a red square, symbolizing the hearth of the home), with light strips forming half the square and dark strips on the other side. Dramatic contrast effects with light and dark fabrics are created by various layouts of the blocks when forming a quilt top. There are named variations, based on the placement of log cabin blocks.)

Alissa actually encouraged us to freehand cut and try variations on the traditional log cabin- I did both of those things so my fabric strips were not symmetrical. To add to the improvisational feel, I quilted it with wavy diagonal lines instead of the straight, dense lines everyone else seemed to be doing. I have a feeling that wavy lines are kind of going to be my thing with quilting. I can't sew in a straight line to save my life.

Front

Back

I started my first quilt on March 13 and finished it on March 27. It's pretty small- almost too small for a baby so it will probably become a wall hanging at some point.

In the Beginning

2011-04-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

When I was a little kid, I took tap and ballet lessons. In high school, I fancied myself a writer and kept a notebook with me at all times to jot down poems, stories and sketches. I was also a drama kid and a junior member of a professional theatre company. I did plays- acting, directing, costumes, makeup...the whole shebang. I was a theatre major in college and taught drama to elementary & middle school kids during the summer. After college, I did an AmeriCorps year working in the poorer, diverse neighborhoods of Portland managing an after school arts program. I taught playwriting to these amazing kids who finally found a creative outlet for the words that filled their lives. I was a teaching artist and it was wonderful. I felt creative and inspired and whole.

Then I moved to Los Angeles for grad school and all of that fell away. I ended up working at a technology company- away from the classrooms and the the theatre spaces and the creativity. The worst part is that I feel trapped in the work. The pay is just too good and the economy is too insecure for me to find something else. In the last four years at this job, I have watched my creative spirit wither away.

I had for so long admired the quilting that my mother in law immerses herself with. I would think enviously about my aunt who has spent her whole life dedicated to crafting- quilts, crocheting, knitting, embroidery- all of it. She even ran a sewing arts shop many years ago. I kept promising myself I would take some classes or pick up a how to book but it just kept getting shoved into the recesses of my overstimulated mind. That is until my birthday weekend, about 6 weeks ago.

My mother in law was in town and as a birthday gift, she wanted to help get me started with quilting since I had told her many, many times that it was something I was interested in trying. We drove around to a few shops in LA and stumbled upon Sew Modern where the people are SO friendly and the shop is SO inviting that I instantly felt at home. I signed up for a sewing machine intro class and a beginner's quilting class that very day. My MIL helped me pick out fabrics for my class and bought me all the supplies I would need to get started. The following week, my adventure began in earnest.

As of today, I have completed 3 classes: Sewing Machine Intro, A Modern Quilt From Start to Finish and Envelope Pillow and I am thirsty for more. Words can't accurately describe how reparative it has been for my soul. I am already thinking 5 projects ahead and I am so, so happy to feel this inspired once again. My mind is flooding with ideas and the sewing has been meditative. I am looking forward with anticipation.

I hope to use this space to catalog my journey back to my creative self.