Tiny Updates

I'm still here, but there's very little to share -- unless you want updates on diapers and laundry and litter boxes. No? Me either.

But -- things are happening. Not a lot and not quickly, but they are.

I'm working on a quilt in my local group time -- it's kind of a free form barely medallion style quilt. It started with my favorite starburst style block, and I'm building out from there.

 At the end of the first month.

At the end of last meeting. You can't really tell, but the strange multi colored border is dogs in sweaters. I think it needs at least one more border. Maybe red with white dots? Maybe another set of HSTs or something else more time consuming?

I obviously hit the wall on making decisions for that quilt, so I started on something else before the meeting was up and it was time to quit for two weeks.

This is a little farther along now, but I haven't taken a new photo yet.

On my own I've been working on this oddblock (leftover blocks and fabric from a project the quilt group did for me) leftover thing:

It's grown -- slowly -- into something larger, and hopefully large enough for what I want to do:

Please ignore the nursery decorations hanging in the way... that ribbon jellyfish is the best thing in the world right now, and I don't dare move it. I have the fabric for the backing of this oddblock project, but I haven't taken the time to work on it yet. I think I'm dragging my feet because I don't want to baste -- and I can no longer claim I'm putting it off for being pregnant (like I did all last year on many projects).

Quilt group is this week, so I'm hoping to make some serious progress again. Or at least, some progress. If not, at least I'm going to have some fun!

Sewing (and more) for Baby -- Update #3

My Sew/Craft/Etc. for Baby List 

• Fitted Sheets for Co-Sleeper Mattress:
• 2 Cotton -- both now have elastic and have been washed

•  2 flannel -- maybe later?? 
• Is 3 enough? Am I crazy? 

• Zipper Front Sleep Sack
• At least 2? -- Um... I'm thinking I might not get around to this one. I've got some other sleep sacks from gifts and I might see if I can make it work with those. If baby is as hot a sleeper as Greg, I'll have to come back to this one and try something lighter weight than the fleece once we got! 

• Changing Pad Cover
• 2+ 
  
• At least 3 1 quilts/blankets (mostly to use as play mats)
• Panda Quilt -- in Progress

• Minky Cat and Mouse Quilt -- Done

• Autumn Woods Patchwork/Panel -- Done

• A Quiet Book (for later, but should start as time allows)

• Bibs -- in progress!
• I've got 6 ready for snaps -- just haven't gone outside to pound on them with a hammer! 

• Wipes
• Single weight flannel
• Double weight flannel

• Wash Cloths
• Flannel/cuddle fabric
• Flannel/texture fabric
• A couple for a gift

• Burp Cloths
• I'm guessing we want quite a few of these? 

I wound up with a lot of extra flat diapers, so for now I'm going with those. Most of them are still white / untouched, but I may end up dying more of them if time allows. I love the finished look -- even when the color doesn't turn out as expected, which is more than 50% of the time --but the process is time consuming, and the 'rinse' process is especially frustrating for me. I've dyed a few over the last few months, thinking we might use them either as part of the diapering process or the burp cloth (or a general clean up whatever is happening cloth!) but I have a LOT more white ones to go -- and I can only dye about 4 at a time before the coverage turns out really spotty. 

In addition to dying some of the flat diapers, we also dyed a few onesies, tops, and two of the plain white swaddles we were given. 

The process is a little frustrating to me, but I really like the outcome... If I do end up taking some kind of maternity leave before baby is actually here, I might have enough hours to do a few more, but if I work right on through there's no way I'll have the time. So, we'll see! 

• Hooded Towels
• 2 for gifts
• 2 for us

2 hooded towels -- one with yellow trim, one with original

• Leg Warmers
• 3 made, which is a good enough start for something that may or may not work out. I'm calling this good until we see how they work out in reality. 
• 
  
• Texture 'lovie' blankets
• 3 for us

2 small 'lovies' for us, plus 2 wash cloths

• 1-2 for gifts -- 1 down, 1 smaller one to go

The larger gift texture 'lovie' blanket

Not on the 'sewing' list, but I have finished one other project for the baby too... 

It's not quite as lovely as the examples I've been drooling over on Pinterest... but it'll work for now and I can always dress it up later if need be.

Quilting Without a Brain!

I really need to finish this new quilt up ASAP so I can get it in the mail, but it seems the faster I try to work the more behind I end up!

So far I've over-cut one fabric by double my needs -- which puts me at risk for running out of fabric -- and I made two sets of half square triangles instead of one set of HSTs and one set of coordinating triangles. Which means more of the same fabric is at risk of being wasted, as little triangles as well as little squares. Ugh! Brain -- turn back on!

This is what happens when I try to push myself instead of thinking through the entire project. It's also a risk when I'm making up my own directions instead of following a pattern or tutorial!

At least the HST blocks are looking very pretty. That almost makes up for the troubles I'm having. I'd better double check that I've really made a mistake before I do anything else. And maybe I'd better take a walk around the house or something to make sure I'm a little more awake this time around!

Later -- after a long walk! 

I have unpicked all the extra HST blocks and pieced them back into where they belong. Which is good. But there's bad news too. Yesterday's brain-not-working moment had me expecting 9" squares, but I'm actually ending up with closer to 6.5" squares. This makes more sense for my math -- but doesn't give me a very good outcome for the finished size.

Guess I'd better put together this large block before I get too worked up about how to border it out to a better size. I'll do what I can with what I've got, but if I absolutely have to go shopping again, it's only time and money -- and my own fault for not planning in advance as carefully as I should have.

Sewing for Baby - Progress

My Sew for Baby List 

• Fitted Sheets for Co-Sleeper Mattress:
• 2 Cotton

One still needs elastic -- gotta go shopping!

• 2 flannel
• That's a total of 5, which seems reasonable... maybe...?
• Zipper Front Sleep Sack
• At least 2
• Changing Pad Cover
• 2+
  
• At least 3 quilts/blankets (mostly to use as play mats)
• 
  
  
  
  
  
• A Quiet Book (for later, but should start as time allows)
• Bibs
• Feedback suggests we want a lot of these
• Wipes
• Single weight flannel
• Double weight flannel
• Wash Cloths
• Flannel/cuddle fabric
• Flannel/texture fabric
• A couple for a gift
• Burp Cloths
• I'm guessing we want quite a few of these?
• Hooded Towels
• 2 for us
• 2 for gifts
• Leg Warmers
• 3 made, which is a good enough start for something that may or may not work out. I'm calling this good until we see how they work out in reality. 
• Texture 'lovie' blankets
• 3 for us

2 small 'lovies' for us, plus 2 wash cloths

• 1-2 for gifts -- 1 down, 1 smaller one to go

The larger gift texture 'lovie' blanket

Hooded Towels Again

With another influx of babies coming to my life this summer, it's time to get back to making some of my favorite baby gifts: hooded towels.

My favorite tutorial for these is over at Obsessively Stitching -- in part because I like the less pointy headed hood, and in part because I love how easy this makes it to whip up two in one sitting. I never want to let the half-hand towel sit around cut but unused, so it's a great incentive to me to make two before I stop for the evening.

When I make two for one home or one baby, I like to keep one as simple as possible with no added bells or trims, then add a little something extra to the second hooded towel. Although there are lots of cute ways to dress these up, my favorite involves cutting off the thick trim that comes on the towel and replacing it with some bias cut trim/binding. This dresses up the hooded towel while also cutting down on the bulk -- especially handy when finishing the hood.

Since I had some leftover binding from the Autumn Woods quilt, I went with that for one of my two.

I've got two more towels sitting on my desk top, waiting for their turn -- which really means waiting for an empty bobbin as I think navy blue towels require something other than winter white thread!

Sewing for Baby

I am really much more a quilter than a sewist, which is odd considering how much of my own closet was homemade during my childhood. But whatever the reason, I just never paid enough attention to my mother's sewing to make a connection with it, and today, even simple projects like pillow cases -- a middle ground between quilting and sewing if ever there was one, no? -- are daunting to me. The idea of sewing a garment for me is overwhelming, and while baby sizes sound harder (smaller is not always easier), perhaps the wearer will be more forgiving toward my skills than I am!

Sewing any kind of clothing is still a long ways off -- if I ever get up the courage -- but I do have a list of things I hope to DIY for the nursery -- and a few things I've started on already.

My Sew for Baby List (ours and others)

Sew for Babies List

 Fitted Sheets for Co-Sleeper mattress:

• 2 cotton
• 2 flannel
• That's a total of 5... is that enough?

Zipper Front Sleep Sack (1 or 2)

Changing Pad Cover (1-2)

Quilts / Blankets 

• I'm hoping for 2-3 from me, plus I know we'll get some as gifts. These will be play mats at first, but I'm hoping a couple will be large enough to use when the kid is old enough... 

Bibs (lots)

Wipes

• single weight flannel
• double weight flannel
• other?

Wash Cloths

• flannel/cuddle fabric
• flannel/texture fabric
• flannel/terry cloth

Hooded Towels 

• 2 for us
• 2 for gifts

Leg warmers

• Okay, maybe these don't work? Maybe it's all hype? But they look cute, so I want to make a couple and at least test them out. 

Texture 'lovie' kind of blankets 

• for us
• for gifts

I'm sure I'll think of more as I keep working, and I'm sure I won't accomplish it all before July gets here, but this is a beginning. 

I started typing up my master 'to do' list and I know there's no way I'm going to get it all done by July or before, but I hope we can manage most of it. Things like the biggest parts of child-safety checking the house can probably wait a few months (since I'm fairly certain kids start out less than mobile) but other things like deep cleaning the fridge or getting a dresser for baby clothes are pretty important. I guess I know what I'll be doing in most of my spare time! 

Slow, but Not Gone

My terribly grown up plan of getting to sleep before midnight has gone out the window the last few weeks -- and I'm still not accomplishing enough with the extra 2.5 hours in my day!

Aside from work and other boring things, here's a pretty good hint of what I've been working on:

1) A cat costume. Yes, I know, I probably could have purchased something similar in any store right now for about $5-10. But, right now I'm sitting at $1 + time + things I already owned, and it helps that it doesn't have any glitter or sparkles.

2) Unless I chicken out, I'm about to attend my first costume party since -- wait, ever. It'll be my first time wearing a costume -- for a reason other than a play -- since I was about seven years old. Yikes. More nervous than I should be. Currently working on 4 costumes so I can go back and forth right up until we walk in. Yikes, again.

3) All those scraps? Mostly not from the ears. Mostly from my currently 6 page long tutorial/outline for my upcoming attempt on 'teaching' wonky stars. Yeah, I way over did it. But that's who I am. Sometimes.

4) No, not packing or moving. That's actually a box from my last move -- when I had no idea how long I'd be away from my things and absolutely did write the title of every book in that box on every side of that box -- and all the others I packed. That box is now completely full of random thread colors I picked up at a garage sale. I had to dig it out to get some black thread so I could finish the ears. Which better be tomorrow.

5) And because photos make me feel less like I've been neglecting to keep track of anything, here's a little more of the unplanned but fun wonky star project I started as part of the tutorial making process.

It needs trimmed up a little, but not bad for my first extra wonky star. I'm winding up with a growing pile of scrappy background wonky stars. I think I'm seeing another mini quilt in my future, but I might hold out and press on for a baby quilt instead. Never know -- I think I'm going to be sending out three in the next month...

Adding to the Stash

The last couple weeks have been utterly busy at work, until I can hardly keep up with anything. Instead of concentrating on a greater project - a challenge when my time is so limited - my major project of the week was to free up some of my few bobbins from their leftovers.

The easiest way to do that at the moment was to work on enlarging one of the patchwork projects I'm using to get ahead of the baby curve that's coming in the next few months. I called this top quits when I ran out of fabric to continue the patchwork pattern in any direction, but I think the size (about 35" square) isn't too bad. While the thread on the backside is very colorful, I don't think it is noticeable from the front. 

Fortunately, I was able to empty a bobbin of a creamy color for the quick turn and quilting when I attached the finished top to some scrappy, textured backing. I'm thrilled to have finally found a use for these two long, skinny scraps, and the texture makes a wonderful backing material. 

Quilting a quick turn quilt (which will not need binding) is always a little more challenging than quilting a sandwiched quilt (one that will later be bound), but it can be done with care. I think the most important step is to keep the top and back of the quick turn quilt as close to the same size as possible. I used to think I could do that just by cutting them to the same size and pinning around the outside before sewing along the majority of the outside. In practice, that hasn't worked quite so well. Instead, I've started also pinning through the middle (much like basting, but the two outer faces of the quilt are touching and the central pins will be removed prior to quilting, just as the quilt is turned right side out). This hasn't perfected the process, but it has helped a great deal. 

After stitching around the outside edge (to close the small area where it was turned), I went on to stitch around every other block. 

I had certainly hoped to get some better photos before the washing, but it seems between long hours at work and occasional downpours, that wasn't to be. It does look good against the flooring, which I am still in love with, and of course Momo laid claim to it almost the moment he could touch it. Fortunately, it needed washed anyway - so I don't mind a little more cat hair at the moment. After the wash, I won't be quite so pleased to have his precious help! 

On my last minky backing, I had some shrinkage that made things fit oddly, so I'm hopeful that this much quilting will put a stop to any unwanted shrinkage. 

Some Sewing

I didn't choose a very good week to take off for my mini vacation from blogging - it's been so hot I can hardly manage to turn on my machines, much less make progress to talk about later!

About the only things I managed to accomplish in my entire week off were the coordinating bib and hooded towel for my second Welcome Baby Package of the year, for Baby W.

The bib is backed in the same terrycloth as the hooded towel (using the leftovers from the hand towel that made the hood) and one of the decorative pink-ish fabrics also helps tie the two together. I chose the coordinating fabric first, based on scrap size to do the towel trim without seams. After that, I chose the cupcake piece because I know there's some baking and cupcaking in the family history. After that, I just pulled any scrap that seemed to match one or both of the pieces I'd already chosen and was the right size for my project. It's a lot of pink, but I'm hoping the greens, browns, and blues will help tone that down and keep it from being too overly sweet.

It's been a couple years since the last time I made a hooded towel, so I did have to pull up my favorite tutorial for it again (at Obsessively Stitching). This should be an easy thing to make - even with the addition of the accent fabric - but I made mistake after mistake and it wound up taking me more than two hours to get it all pulled together. I'm still not thrilled with the outcome, but at this point, it's going to have to be good enough (unless a trip through the wash destroys my work). Clearly, I need not to take off years between projects, even if it is relatively simple and straight forward!

Fortunately, sewing and assembling the bib went much more smoothly. Even installing the snap - not my favorite part - went fairly smoothly. I'd kind of like to make one more bib to include with the package, but if I do so, I ought to write the family and see what not-pink, not-cupcakey themes they might be interested in.

The two pieces are in the wash at the moment, and assuming all goes well, I think these might be the last pieces before I can take photos of the package as a whole and begin wrapping. I've got a couple more weeks before delivery - and a longer timeline if I find someone else to take this to the baby shower instead (sadly, I was booked to work long before I knew that was the baby shower weekend).

At least installing snaps and taking photos is relatively cool work! It's about 80 in my house at the moment, and that's just too hot to turn on the sewing machine or iron, so all my other projects are just sitting in the corner waiting for cooler weather. Looks like I may not get our quilts done by end of August after all!

Ugly Secret

The house we're currently living in has a few issues. Some of the more minor issues - like the ancient carpeting and the old toilets - we've been able to fix, but some of the more major issues are beyond an easy fix. One of my greatest annoyances with the house is that it was put on the property backwards. The front door - which opens into the living room - is all the way around the house from where anyone would park. Of course, at this point even if a person were to know that they should circle the house to get to the 'right' door, they wouldn't be able to between overgrown pathways and the stairs to the door being broken.

Instead of battling this - or wandering the waist high grasses hoping to find a 'front' door, everyone goes to what appears to be the front door: just a few feet from the parking area/driveway, nice welcoming porch, patio furniture on the porch, door bell on the side of the door. There's really no choice but to use it - if only it opened up anywhere else in the house...

Welcome to my laundry room - and the worst storage we have.

Not exactly a welcoming sight, I know. And that's after three rounds of purging (this year) and several attempts at reorganizing to make things a little more appealing. It just doesn't work.

Although in the long run, it might be worth it to replace the single shelf with a couple cabinets - as doors and multiple shelves could really help our storage needs while still being relatively attractive - at this point, that's kind of beyond my ability. So, looking for a short cut, we found a tension rod that's long enough to span the 61.5 inch opening.

Initially, we had planned on using a mounted closet rod for the sturdiness, but ultimately we wanted to go with something requiring a little less commitment - and something that wouldn't damage the walls on the off chance that Momo somehow pulled on the curtain.

I turned a flat sheet into a quick curtain, trimmed and hemmed it to the size I wanted, and within about 15 minutes we have an improved laundry / entry space.

It's not ideal, and I figure we'll make more changes down the line, but for now, I'm just happy not to be staring at all those boxes every single time I come into the house - or walk through the hallway there.

After a week of living with it, I was beginning to think that it wasn't that great of a change: it's a little bulky, it makes the space seem a little smaller, all kinds of negativity. Yesterday I had pulled the curtain more open while I was doing laundry, and happened to come into the house from outside while it was pulled out of the way and I am now even more firm in my opinion that while it's not ideal, it is so much better than seeing all the boxes. As a temporary fix (that might not be so temporary), I think this is going to work very well.

While Waiting on Tech Support...

In the growing list of things that are keeping me from accomplishing my non-hobby goals, last night I got to spend way too long waiting on tech support for my computer - and not solving anything. So, while I'm still waiting on getting that figured out - and unfortunately, a securely working computer is important to just about all the other steps I'm supposed to be working on - I am happy to report that I put that time spent waiting to use trying something new.

Though, it occurs to me now that I should have used that time working on the 2013 cross stitch portrait. Whoops. Maybe next time - since there's going to be one!

While I was waiting, I was trying to organize my leftover/scrap pile - left overs from other projects or odd blocks with no homes. I have a hard time throwing something away unless it's just a tiny trimming I'll never be able to reuse. I came across some excess that was trimmed off the back of the Happily Ever After Quilt after quilting. The smallest panel was about 15 by 45 of pieced and quilted backing and batting.

Previously in my waiting-turned-organizing time, I had been looking through some of the things I've pins on Pinterest and rediscovered a tutorial for Pink Stitches' Boxy Pouch. It called for starting with two small quilted panels, some lining fabric, and a zipper - all things I had within reach (except the interfacing, which I don't have and figured I'd skip, as usual). It seemed like fate, so I pulled up the tutorial on my tablet and went to work.

My tutorial following skills weren't quite up to par, what with being very distracted by trying to remain connected to three chat windows and a phone line - but I managed to pull together something fairly similar in only about an hour.

Since my zipper was a 14" and I had lots of panel to cut from, I went with a slightly larger box than the tutorial (the larger size is mentioned toward the beginning of the tutorial, so I didn't feel completely like I was jumping off head first). While my panels are a little more random than I'd have chosen if I had started from scratch, having them already pieced and quilted probably saved me an hour or more.

I started with two 15" by 10" panels and ended up about 10" by 6" finished bag. When it came time to box out the corners, I took out about 1.5" (having already forgotten the suggestion to try 2" on the larger panels) - but I'm very happy with the finished size, so I'm glad I forgot!

The tutorial was easy to follow - if I had this much success while doing four other things, just imagine how good the finished product could look if I'd been concentrating! Previous zipper installation practice probably helped a little, but it certainly isn't necessary; the tutorial makes it very easy. I struggled a little with the two ends of the zipper - again, user error of not marking where to stop/start sewing - and sewing the box corners shut after taking out the 1.5" also gave me a little trouble, but I had a blast and I'm pretty happy with how the finish came out. I really want to try it again - minus the tech support stuff.

My lining leaves a little to be desired. The scrappy aspect isn't my favorite, but it's okay compared to the fit. I cut to the prescribed size, and did my best to follow the directions in terms of seam allowance, but it seems a little too large. This isn't an isolated issue - it's happened to the last several bag projects I've made. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I really want to get it figured out - ill-fitting, baggy lining is a serious peeve. This one isn't far off, and maybe after a little use it'll settle in better.

It's not perfect, but it was fun and I want to make more. I always think that immediately wanting to make more is a sign of a great tutorial and a great project. Seriously though, I need to find a reason to make more of these. So family, you just might be getting these kinds of bags as gifts this year. Don't tell! ;)

Bunting Project

I've been working on using up some of my supply of vintage sheets. Turning some of them into pixel heart style quilts has been keeping me busy- patchwork keeps me really on my toes -but today I really wanted to try my hand on something that would give faster results.

I took a single large pillowcase that had previously avoided being cut up thanks to being more textured looking than the others I've been working on (the weave of the fabric is slightly more apparent than the others I've grouped) and used my rotary cutter to cut it into several triangles.

If I'd been clever, I would have turned the pillowcase inside out to cut the triangles so they would have been face to face. Since I wasn't, I had to flip each set before sewing them together. Using a wide quarter inch seam, l sewed two sides together then ironed  them, flipped them outside out and ironed again.

I did attempt to top stitch along the finished edges on one, The edges did look nicely finished, but my machine refused to feed the point. Newer or sturdier fabric might be able to handle the tug but this vintage fabric couldn't cope.

So, now I have a pile of triangles just waiting for me to find ribbon or bias tape to attach them to before I can call them finished. It's nothing like a quilt top - but I am loving having something more 'finished' to show for my time already. I still love quilting, but it can take so much time before I feel rewarded for my effort -- especially when working patchwork style. I'm off to search the stash and see if I've got the right finishing touches for these!

Still Just Playing

I am still in love with the strange little scrappy x and + block I made, and still not certain what I can do to make it into something workable. I'd really like to see it pillow size, which will require the addition of a border to enlarge it a little more than the current 11.5 square. 

For right or wrong, I couldn't see using a very printed border, nor a solid one. But I found three purple options that fell somewhere between a print and a solid, and all of which seemed decent enough matches.

I'll have to find a pillow form - probably by taking apart an older one and seeing if I can re-size and re-fluff it a bit first - before I determine whether it needs another border or not. I suspect a quick border in something nearer the dark blue would be a nice finishing touch... but we'll see what's needed when there's a form to size to.

And since my scrappy collection grew a little during the making of this, I have started another starburst as well.

I do wish I'd swapped the purple/black/gold/white and the grey/teal/citron/white places. I thought from the prints that I was doing the right thing, but looking at the finished piece I would have been happier if the two citrons were farther apart rather than adjacent to each other. The scrappy block on point in the center was my own addition, and while it's not as cleanly made as I had hoped, I am pleased with the addition of something in the center. I'll lose a few points on the edges no matter what I do - but I'm toying with making a few more scrappy blocks like this. I'm not sure I could make an entire quilt out of several of these blocks, but a few scrappy ones set in a large field might work well... 

Little Finishes 2

I know I have a couple quilts I ought to be making progress on - and I'm very aware of all the books waiting for my attention yet this month - but really I'm just picking away at a few little projects and accomplishing very little. I feel like I haven't yet recovered from my Thanksgiving vacation - and it's nearly Christmas!

Now that I've officially reached out on finding a home for my Semi-Sampler quilt, I had a few leftover little scraps that were just crying out to be turned into something to go along with the quilt. One extra fat-quarter of grey fabric later, and a little bit of time, and I am ready to install closures in two coordinating bibs.

The patchwork-y bib used a few scraps from recent projects, including the quilt I'm trying to coordinate with as well as a few other projects. The other is just a large scrap of the text-heavy print that I used on the back of the quilt. They've been stitched to some terry cloth - so far I prefer to use pieces of towels rather than terry cloth fabric I could buy by the yard - and even have a little top stitching (most noticeable on the patchwork one) to finish them off. I wanted to get a little more finished without getting to fussy.

Now I have a pile of about six waiting for closures, probably snaps. I'm not particularly gifted at installing snaps, so I often make a pile until it feels worth it to dig out the tools. I suspect I also need to pick up a few more snaps before I get started. But these bibs - unlike the others I have on hand - do have a 'due date' so I guess I'd better move that up the priority list.

Oh - and although I did follow a pattern for both, they do look very different in size. I guess following directions is still something I should be working on!

The other little finish I have to share is really late... but again, it needed just a little more fabric - and the scraps left over from these bibs turned out to be perfect for my needs!

I have a couple more four-blocks of favorite prints left over from the 'October' side of my bed runner project, but these four black and whites were just screaming to be made into a tiny pillow cover. I won't be stuffing it until next year when it's ready to go up - though I think I have a little pillow it'll just fit over - but I'm pleased as punch with how the fabrics worked together.

Honestly, I wish I knew a little more about this little fat quarter I picked up. It's been amazing to work with and the perfect texture/color for so many little projects, it seems like I ought to have more of it... But all I have left is a tiny scrap to add to the scrap heap. I'll be keeping my eye out for more though!