Spring Break Sewing

SUBTITLE: The Quick, The Fun & The Slightly Scary

We are on Spring Break! After 8 months filled with way more travel than we are accustomed to (road trip to Tennessee,  Disney Cruise and Mexico) ,  I am excited to have a staycation for the next week!  We have a few things planned, like doctor appointments and museum visits, but I'm really looking forward to being home, getting through A LONG list of overdue tasks, and SEWING!

Today, I focused on the most needed and ovedue...getting the sewing room back under control.  Since November  (judging by scraps, receipts and unfinished projects I found while excavating today) things have been piled, shoved, dumped and forgotten in there.  I've continued to sew and create, but the useable space had shrunken to a very small area around the sewing machine, and it had become hard to find what I needed.   I really don't know why I let it get this way. I took some "before" photos, but I'm too embarrassed to show them!  You'll just have to imagine your own sewing area at its worst, then multiply by 42.

It took a few hours, but I managed to de clutter a lot of areas, and tidy up work surfaces enough so that I can function without frustration in there again. As I went, I snapped some pictures of the projects I want to finish or move forward this week. Here they are, mostly for my own accountability.

THE QUICK:
Here's another habit of mine I really don't understand.  I leave projects unfinished for days, weeks, months, even, when they really only need a few minutes worth of work to be finished.  Why do I do that?

This quilt label has been fused down,
 waiting to be stitched, for about a month.  Shameful

This zipper pouch has been finished for two
weeks - except for zigzag stitching over the side seams.  Really?   Who does that? 

My soon to be Black Belt daughter earned these patches
for her karate uniform in January. Bad mom.  Bad. 

THE FUN:
I am going to make sure I dedicate plenty of time this week to some projects I have been looking forward to!  Some special things for two other people (giving is the best part of quilting) and something for me!

A pieced top, backing, and fabric for the binding.
This will be a baby quilt for my niece's soon to arrive
Baby girl.  I'd really like to have it done before she arrives,

These flannels will be a quick receiving blanket, also for
baby Emma.  Notice the owl theme?

Here's just a peek at the center medallion  of my quilty pen pal's
Round Robin quilt.  The black behind it will be a thin border, then
I'm adding my own touch to it.  I need to send it back to her by the end of
April.  Lots of measuring, drafting, figuring and sewing to do!

And, for me!  Fabrics and pattern have been chosen for a long-awaited
tote bag/purse.  These colors make me happy.  The cute HeXi print will line the pockets.
I will be using Noodlehead's 241 Tote pattern.  It's already downloaded and printed !


  

THE (slightly) SCARY:
Not too frightening,  but definitely out of my comfort zone!  Garment sewing, even alterations like these makes me a little nervous.  Especially when it's fancy and for someone else.

This could fit in the first category,  too.
These two pair of pants have been pinned
And ready for shortening for...umm, a really, really long time.
It will probably take longerror to write about them than to hem them.  

It's hard to tell, but this is a really beautiful prom
dress that I've offered to shorten for a friend's daughter.
This friend has been very helpful to me, and they were in a bind...what can I say?
Wish me luck!  There are layers and layers of tulle! 

And, the non sewing!  Yes, I plan to do some non-sewing fun stuff this week, too!

This is a friend's copy, and I'm one of many on the list wanting to borrow
it from her.  It is of local interest, and everyone here is talking about it!  Can't wait to join them!

 

I am happy to say that in between taking the pictures and writing this post, two of the quick projects have been completed! A promising start!

So, do you put off little finishes for no good reason, or get sweaty palms at the idea of hems?  Somebody tell me I'm not alone!

Busy, busy, busy!

And, here it is, the end of November!  This year is quickly spiraling toward its end, too.  It's been crazy busy here, and there's little hope of that changing before 2015.  Happily, part of the "busy" for me has been lots of time in the sewing room.  I am really working at making sewing  a part of the  weekly routine.  (I'd love for it to be daily, but that's just not going to happen right now.)  I SO enjoy going up to the sewing/craft/play room and just creating, even if I can only find 30 minutes to spend.  Lately, MonkeyNinja has been joining me, and that's really fun, too!  I will try to catch some pictures of her creations.  She is truly a multi-media artist!

Now, I said I've been sewing  often.  This is true.  The only thing is, very little of my sewing has been on things I "should" be doing.  Like the quilt I am making for my mom for Christmas, for example.  In June, I brought home some fabrics from her stash.  She has not been able to sew, due to vision loss, for many years.  Her stash and machine and all of her supplies have been sitting, waiting for someone to rescue them all this time.  I decided that she needed a quilt from some of her fabric.  What a perfect Christmas gift!  That was June.  This is November.  You know where this is going, right?  Uh huh.  One month 'til Christmas, and no quilt.  I do have a start on it.  Or at least I did.  But I'm just not loving it.  And since I'm not loving it, it's been easy to procrastinate.  I do think I have a very feasible plan B in mind, now, thought.  So I am hoping to pick up some steam with it over this five day break.

So, what HAVE I been sewing?

Mittens!

Since these are to be worn on stage, I could get away with a quick zig zag over the raw edge, and I didn't have to be too particular with the turning.  They will look adorable to those sitting in the audience, no matter how rough they look close up!

Lots and lots of mittens!  Twenty two pair.  That's 44 mittens.  That's 88 pieces.  That's a LOT of cutting.  And a lot of thumbs to stitch around.

These are costume pieces, not intended in any way, shape, or form to be used in the snow.  They will, however, be used in a Frozen medley performed by my SingAndDance and her performance troupe in their Holiday show in a few weeks.  The mittens will accompany an adorable snowman dress worn by each girl.  Thankfully, I had nothing to do with those adorable dresses!  The mittens were enough!  By the time the last pair was finished, I was really sick of that red and white chevron!  But, I am happy that my 10 required volunteer hours are fulfilled.  And I got to fulfill them by sewing, instead of scrubbing the rehearsal space!  HeeHeeHee!


Pouches!

Love these simple front-zip pouches and the bright modern colors that SingAndDance chose for her friends.  The ribbon zipper pulls are my favorite part!

Hands down, my favorite thing to sew lately!  So fun, so quick, so gratifying. 

This batch was created on a Friday night.  The Friday night before SingAndDance's birthday party.  These were gifts for her guests.  She had an "At Home Spa" themed party, which included Jamberry manicures for each of the girls.  We packed these pouches full of manicure supplies, extra Jamberry wraps, and a few other spa themed goodies.  They were pretty popular.  Have you tried Jamberries?  They are vinyl wraps for your nails that stay on for up to two weeks!  There are hundreds of really fun designs...even some that look like quilts!  I am not great at applying them yet, and it takes me longer than I really want to spend to put them on, so I don't wear them often, but the girls at the party sure had a good time with them! 

This is just a peek at how our mantel looks during much of November.  Both of my girls have birthdays in early November, so we celebrate them.  Only one gets a party each year, since two parties each year would break the bank and my patience!  This year was my older daughters turn.

Goodness, I like this pouch!

This pouch was made on a Saturday morning.  About two hours before I was meeting a friend for coffee.  It happened to be the day after her birthday, which I had forgotten until three hours before I was supposed to leave to meet her.  (BTW, are you noticing a pattern here?  Lots of my sewing has been kind of last minute, lately.  Oh well.)

This is just such a happy pouch.  The colors make me smile and it was fun to piece the patchwork together.  There's just a little bit of quilting, but it came out looking pretty professional.  My friend liked it a lot!  I'm so glad.  She is one of the most genuinely nice, nurturing and sweet people that I know, and it was fun to surprise her with something hand made. 

I think that pouches are going to be my go to birthday gift in 2015.  I don't always give gifts to friends on their birthdays, because of the expense, but also because I just never know what to buy.  And I don't actually enjoy shopping for things other than fabric. LOL.  But a hand made pouch is an economical and personal solution.  I have already made another for a different friend, and have gifted it to her already.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture.  I will get one, though, because it's REALLY cute!

Next post, I will also share a link to the tutorial that I follow when I made the patchwork pouches.  I have to hunt a bit for it, so I'm not doing it right now.  It's a good one, though, and I want to make sure I give the author credit!

One last little tidbit.  I donated a quilt to a silent auction benefitting my favorite charity, recently.  It was fun and a bit weird to watch two ladies bid on it throughout the evening.  It didn't raise a TON of money, but it was a respectable amount, and every little bit helps.  Here's the label I made.  (I forgot to take a picture until we were actually AT the auction, so the lighting was poor.  I got lots of "looks" for opening the quilt up to take a picture, too!)

 

 

Whew!  Perhaps my goal for December should be to write several short posts instead of one really long one! Ha!

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, and many hours of Happy Sewing!

Binder Pencil Pouch

My oldest daughter, SingAndDance, starts middle school in just a few weeks.  Middle School!  She is so ready.  She's a really good kid.  Smart, funny, kind  and genuine.  I am blessed.

I hope that Middle School lives up to her expectations, and offers her lots and lots of new ways to learn and grow.  One new experience for her will be Band.  She is going to play the flute.

Every morning next week she will participate in "Band Camp" with the other new 6th Grade Band members.  She is required to have a zippered pencil pouch to put in her three ring binder.  She asked me to make one from some really cute music note fabric that she found for $1 in the scrap bin at a local fabric and framing shop.

I will admit, I'm a teeeeny bit thrilled that she asked.  I know that the days of loving what mom makes are numbered, and I will take it while I can!

I have never made a zipper pouch before.  I've never put in a zipper before.  Well, maybe once, but it would have been on a 4-H project, and I'm sure I had a LOT of help from my mom.
I found a tutorial of sorts somewhere on the interned (It was one of those generic How To pages, not someone's blog, and it wasn't very good, so I'm not going to link to it), and gave it a try.  The pink floral pouch is my practice.  I just love that fabric.  It went pretty well, despite some big gaps in the "instructions."  It's a good thing I like to putz and figure things out!  The version in the instructions didn't have any batting, but I knew I wanted this pouch to be sturdy, so I added some fusible fleece I've used when making purses.  Then, of course, I needed to add a backing/lining.  And then, naturally, some quilting was necessary.  I dropped my feed dogs and tried a tiny little bit of FMQ, just around some of the flowers.  It was fun and looked cute.  Until I turned it over.  FMQ turned into FMM...Free Motion Mess!  WOW!  What a nest of thread I created.  It was only the second time I have tried to drop my feed dogs and stitch without a presser foot.  The first time was moderately successful.  This time, not so much.  But it's OK.  It's on the inside, and this was for practice.  Putting in those eyelets for the rings was a new experience, too, but I figured it out.

Once I knew what I was doing and how it needed to go together, I came up with my own method, which is a bit more streamlined than the original - it's all one piece, so just top and bottom seams.  I quilted this one in straight lines, going horizontally, perpendicular to that awesome, chunky orange zipper.  I'm really so happy with how this turned out!  SingAndDance is, too! Yay!

I am linking to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.  Very Excited to have TWO things to share this week!!!

Happy Sewing!