Knitting 101

A few weeks ago I took at knitting class at Jo-Ann's with my mom. It was about 2 and a half hours long. We learned how to get started, how to knit and perl, and how to bind off. I'm really enjoying it so far, but I'm just learning. I am really good at just perling. The motion is more natural to me. I also like the texture it produces:


Below is my first finished-ish project. It's a scarf, obviously. However it's about a 9 inches wide and too short. Last night I unravelled the end and started redoing it, this time, skinnier! I really like the way the yarn feels and I hated to just waste it. I couldn't think of anything else to do with it, so I started it again.

I'm not really sure why it has a big bump on the side...

I guess it would have worked for someone with an UNUSUALLY long neck!

I found the class very infomative. I had wanted to learn to knit for a while. I know there are youtube videos, but I wasn't sure how to get started or what I would even need. Even if I don't continue with it right now, I at least know how to walk into the craft store and pick out what I need to get started again. The class was $35, but they were having an open house so it was half price. That included a large bag, a pair of knitting needles, and some Vanna White yarn. I'm thinking about taking the crochet class next...

WIP Wednesday 03/16/2011

I have worked on something almost every night, but I don't really have a lot of finished projects to show for it lately! I did finish the March block for Birdie Stitches.


I really like this little bird.

I am only using the colors in the fabric so my rainbow has brown instead of purple and I left out that top line. I obviously haven't washed it yet, so you can still see the blue lines. I am really happy that I decided to participate in this. It's is easy to make the blocks. the embroidery designs are cute and I can finish them quickly. I'm excited to keep working on it. I haven't given up the idea of making another one for a Christmas gift, but still haven't started it.

I have learned a new skill: knitting. I'll share about that in the next few days, but it's probably the reason I don't have much finished!

I also started a project using Cuckoo! from Wild Olive. Mollie is starting a great series on embroidery basics if you want to check it out and learn something new!

I'm still working on the zigzag quilt (or it's still on the design wall anyway!). My local quilt shop is having a party for HST projects, so I'm going to try to finish it up and take it to that next Friday. No progress on the fairy quilt. It seems to be stalled!

Another thing I'm working on is a monthly sewing "group" with my friends from college. We are all going to try to get together once a month to sew/craft for a few hours. I'm very excited about it coming together. I think there are going to be about 8 of us. We are going to start with a baby quilt. Not sure if we are going to continue making the same thing every month or if we are all just going to bring something we are working on. We have several different talents in the group, so I think we are going to teach each other some different things. Do you have any group that you create with? Do you have any idea or suggestions that would be fun? Is this something you would like to hear about? Wanna start your own group? I'll be sharing ideas and suggestions based on how things go with us!

To check out what other people are working on the week, be sure to check out Freshly Pieced.

Work in Progress Wednesday 03/02/2011

I haven't made alot of progress this week with my ongoing projects. I'm almost finished with the Fairy top. I don't love it, but that's the way things go sometime. I've lost most of my motivation but I want to be finished with it.

I'm still working on my zigzag quilt. It's going to end up being a large lap quilt. The top is just about finished. I'm sure when it is, I'll be ready to finish it up!

I think I'm going to do some small projects after these two quilts. I need some instant gratification. I have several bags I'd like to make. Maybe an Easter Bunny for my daughter. Maybe a spring skirt...

I did finish my Sew Fresh Fabrics scrap bee block this week, so I have been sewing! A little at a time, right?!?

Be sure to check out what everyone else is doing to help find your motivation!

Little Big Boy

My daughter wanted to help me make something this weekend, so we whipped up this little onesie for Baby Brother. A piece of Wonder Under and scrap of fabric became this cute little tie shirt. I've never appliqued and it turned out to be really easy.


I think it makes my little baby look like a big boy. He seemed to like it. I think the pearls are a nice accessory!

Sew Fresh Fabric Scrap Bee

If you remember, I was picked to participate in the Sew Fresh Fabric Scrap Bee last month. I received these fabrics:

I was supposed to make a 12.5 by 12.5 unfinished block to be added to a quilt for a little boy. I had a really hard time with this because the magenta fabric and the polka dot fabric were pretty large pieces. I ended up with this:

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I added the orange from my scraps. I think this block will work very well with the other ones that have been made. You can check them out here.

Work in Progress Wednesday 02/16/2011

As I said sickness overtook my house this past week. Not much of anything got accomplished anywhere! I'm feeling better and so is the family. With the long weekend coming up, hopefully I'll get to work on several projects.

Ongoing Projects:

Birdie Stitches~I now have the January and February blocks done. I have all of the pieces cut for the rest of the blocks for the year. I need to sew them together before they get lost. I'm actually thinking of starting another one as a Christmas gift. It really only uses 20 2.5 X 30 strips for the border. I have tons of scraps I could use.




Fairy Quilt~Hancock's finally got in the pink fabric again! I have all of these blocks done. They are rather large, but my daughter wants a big blanket. I'm not sure how I want to put them all together yet, but I really like how it's coming. Hopefully I'll get the top finished this weekend.

Punctuation ZigZag~ I finished all of the row with the charm pack I had. I decided I like this so much that I want to make it bigger! I got another charm pack and am thinking about how to add to it to make it larger. I like the horizontal stripes, but it would be easier to make them vertical to enlarge the quilt. I'm still trying to decided.

Sew Fresh Fabric Scrap Bee~ I have a block started for this. It IS going to be finished this weekend. I have to mail it off before the end of the month. I really like how it is turning out so far.

Hexi Quilt~I actually worked on this quite a bit while I was sick. It's such a transportable project. I have a cute little bag I got at my local quilt shop that is just perfect for dropping in my purse if I have time in the car or to just pick up and work while I'm watching TV. I do my hexagons a little bit differently than I see on most sites. Maybe that's another post.

I-Spy~No progress. I don't have a lot of motivation for this project. I've kinda lost interest in it.

Totals for the week:
WIPs: 6
Finished: 1 (Birdie block)
New Projects: 0, but I have several in mind!

Be sure to go over to Freshly Pieced and see what others are working on!

Dragging out

My family has been overtaken by a terrible sickness. I'm pretty sure that the 5 year old is just a big germ sponge. She brings home every germ from the kindergarten. I've been sick, then the baby, now her. There has been very little productivity at my house, but hopefully we're on the up swing now!

My Creative Space

Until this past summer, I had crafted and sewn wherever I could...on living room floor, the coffee table, the kitchen table. I can even operate a sewing machine with my knee sitting on the floor! This all makes for a very sore back. The worst part was having to pick up whatever I was working on and return it to the closet so my kids/cat/dog/husband didn't mess with it. This led to rushing to finish projects instead of taking the time needed to finish them well. When I started sewing things more regularly, I decided I needed a space of my own for my projects. We had a room that was a little bit of everything...office, closet, gym, playroom. I decided with a little purging and organizing, there was plenty of room for me as well!

The room now holds our computer desk, 2 bookshelves, a gazelle exercise thing, a shelf for my daughter's movie TV, and my sewing stuff. I tried to spend very little to make a nice space. I found a desk at a consignment sale for $35. I refinished it and painted it this turquoise color. I really like the way it turned out. I got a chair on clearance at Target for $3.50. It's a little short for the desk, but a cushion for it
is on my project list! I also bought a storage drawer for about $12. I already had the shelves leftover from redoing my laundry room a couple of years ago. I did splurge a little for the thread holder, but it is nice to have it all together and out of the way. I spray painted it and the desk handles at the same time.

The shelf holds a bucket of ribbon, a roll of pink and green fat quarters waiting for a project, embroidery floss, and several sewing books. The projects hanging on the wall are from a swap I did with Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy. I have a calendar that I need to hang up in that space too!

The little space under the desktop is nice. My small rulers and things I have printed are stored there. In the red basket are scraps I need to put up and things I'm going to work on. There is also a Hancock's of Paducah catalog. I would really like to go there.

The silver basket have pieces I've already cut for projects. The drawers are full of fabric that I've picked up because I like them. You can see a pink Publix bag that had a binder full of printed tutorials and a bag of batting on top of it!

This shelf has plastic containers of other fabric and my sewing box. It also holds my husband and daughter's movies and our princess TV! On top are two boxes of scraps. I didn't take a picture, but hanging on the door is my large cutting mat. Hanging behind the door is my Fons and Porter design wall. I got it for $14 at Jo-Ann's. I love it. I have it fixed so I can have it spread out (which covers a picture that we have on the wall) or I can fold it in half and it's completely hidden by the door.

My little area takes up about 1/3 of the room. Having a little space makes me so much more productive. I can leave a project exactly where I'm working on it or just spend a few spare minutes sewing. It's so nice. My daughter likes it when I sit in there while she watches a movies or plays. It has also made her much more interested in what I'm doing. The baby likes so bang the draw handles. Fun for the whole family!

WIP Wednesday 02/02/2011

Life has been quite busy lately. I have been slowly working on several projects, but I've been sick and so have the babies!
When I got my new machine, I was so excited to try out some of the features. I started with a button hole on the lady bag that I started last month. In my excitement I put the button hole in the wrong part. I can't think of anything else to do with it now, so it may just become some more of my stuff my daughter plays with!

I started working on the fairy quilt again, but I'm short about 1/8 of a yard of pink material. I've been checking Hancock's almost everyday for them to get some more in. I can make do if they don't get it, but I would rather not.

I finished another Kindle cover. I think I finally have the pattern that works how I like it. I can't decide if I want to do a tutorial to share or a pattern to sell or just make them for an Etsy shop to sell. What do you think?

These are my new projects. A Punctuation zigzag quilt:

I love, love, love this. I may get another charm pack to make it big enough for a bed. I can't decide!

I also got my scraps for the Sew Fresh Fabrics Scrap Bee. I'm supposed to make a block for a little boy. I was a little stumped about what to so because the 3 largest pieces are the owls, the magenta, and the pink polka dots! I think I have an idea now...

I also worked on my hexis a little. An ongoing and ongoing and ongoing project!
I also have to do the February Birdie stitches block.
There has been no work on the I-spy quilt.

Finished Projects: 5
WIPs: 7

Hop on over to Freshly Pieced to see what everyone else in blogland is working on!

It arrived!!

For several years (maybe 7?) I've sewn on the most basic machine Brother makes. It looks very similar to this one:

Mine is only pink and white. No purple. It straight stitches and zigzags. That's all. Period. It has served me faithfully this whole time. Since I've started doing bigger projects, I've wanted to upgrade my machine. I used some rewards from MyPoints and Swagbucks and bought this machine. After my rewards, it cost me less than $75 delivered. I was super excited!

The new machine is a Brother CS6000I. It has 60 stitches and about 10 different feet. This was one of the main selling points for me. I wanted a walking foot for making quilting easier. The foot for my old machine was $30 so for $40 more, I got a whole new machine! I haven't done alot with it yet, but I have made one thing:

Yet another Kindle cover. I'm still not completely satisfied with how they are turning out. The very first one I made for myself I love, but I can't quite get the pattern right for replicating them. I'm still trying though!

I think next week I'm going to post pictures of my sewing "area" I am always interested in seeing everyone else's spaces, so maybe I'll share mine!

Car Cozy

Last spring, I made a car cozy for my little friend, O. O's mommy asked me to make one like it for a birthday gift. I was happy to do it. The original one I made had a car wash and a gas station, train tracks (O loves trains), and a curvy road. This one is a little more simple.


A road to drive on and 5 garages!

The gas station on the end it the best part. You can't see it very good in the picture, but there is a shoe string attached that you can use to "pump" the gas.

It all folds up nicely and closes with this cute little car button. The cars are snug and secure to bring out to lunch or church or the doctor's office.

My original design was a combination of about 5 different car cozys I found online. This one is very similar to Jill's at Homemade by Jill.

WIP Wednesday 01/19/2011

I didn't get alot done this week. I've been waiting for some reward points to arrive so I could order a new sewing machine! They finally arrived and my new machine is on the way! I have been sewing with a basic Brother machine that I got for Christmas about 7 years ago. It straight stitches and zigzags. The one I ordered is also a Brother, but it has 60 stitches and comes with several extra feet. I'm very excited about it, and I've been putting off some porjects until it gets here.

In the meantime, I've been doing a little handwork. I've been working on my Hexagon quilt again. There is something relaxing about just sitting and making the little hexis.

These are all of the large flowers I have put together.

Closer view. All of this is fabric I got for a dollar a yard at Wal-Mart years ago. I'm sure one day I'll be sorry I didn't spend the money for something of better quality, but I really like the color combinations right now.

I also have a pattern that I think works for my Kindle covers. I have a couple of fabrics selections for one more tester!

I did finish a car caddy for a friend. My first paid crafting job! I'll post about it soon!

No progress has been made on my other works in progress:
Fairy Quilt
Ladies bag
I spy quilt
Birdie Stitches Quilt (waiting for February's block!)

Totals
WIP: 6
Finished Projects: 3

WIP Wednesday 01/12/2011

I'm working on several projects now. I'm trying to work up a good pattern for the Kindle covers I've been making. The one below didn't quite work out so I may make it into a bag of some sort.

I love these ladies. I think this would look cute with a button to close it.

Beginning of a quilt for my little girl. She loves fairies. This is a panel from Michael Miller. So far I've cut the small squares out and given them a border. I'm going to sash with the pink swirly material.

I sewed all of these I-spies together before I thought about it. Now I'm trying to figure out how to make this a baby sized quilt.

I'm still working on my orange and pink hexagons as well.

I am making a car cozy for a friend this week too. I haven't completely finished anything, but that's ok with me. I like having several projects to work on at a time. I hope to finish the fairy quilt next. I think it's going to be my daughter's Valentine's day gift.

For 2011:
Completed Projects: 2
Started Projects: 4

Birdie Stitches January block

Little Miss Shabby is hosting a quilt along. Each month she's posting an embriodery pattern for the quilt. I'm not using the same fabric as her. My jelly roll is Lollipop by Moda. My solid is Kona Wheat. I really like the way it is turning out so far.

My birdie (I'm not sure why it looks wavy. It's not in real life.)

I used most 3 strands, but some 2 strands for the embroidery.

I'm going to go ahead and make up the rest of the blocks since it was easier to cut them all at once. I can't wait to see what's next!

My first bee!

Sew Fresh Fabrics was trying to decide what to do with their scraps and decided to host a bee for Project Linus. Project Linus collects and distributes blankets for children in hospitals, shelters, social service agencies, etc. Sew Fresh Fabrics is going to send me a bag of scraps to make a quilt block for a little boy quilt! I'm so excited. Plus I get to keep whatever scraps are left. Double win! Now to find the perfect block...

Kindle Cover, Take 2

I made this Kindle Cover for my friend, Ashley. She likes pink, green, and yellow. I like how it turned out. These aren't the greatest pictures.


I pieced it from some scraps I had from a baby quilt and some fabric I got from Fabric.com. I really liked the combination.

I've been using my cover for almost 2 weeks now. I really like it. I can just drop the Kindle in my purse and not worry about it getting scratched up or stuff on it. I'm going to try to make up a few more of these this weekend. Any buyers? ;-)