Sunday, June 23, 2013

Just another Manic Monday...wish it was Sunday...


This is what new baby kitty thinks of Mondays. Me too, Loki, me too.

But since I can't sit around sewing today and instead must get up and go to work, I'll just think fondly about all the crafty things I was able to accomplish this weekend instead. Seriously, I cleaned my house, did the laundry, AND got to sew. BAM. I mean, so I had a Fluffernutter sandwich for dinner one night, but that's just between you and me.


I made some pompoms Saturday night while watching Band of Brothers [a favorite in my household]. I have teal, white, mustard, gray, and navy. They all have to be trimmed, but it's a pretty mindless task for a good movie. I'm making a garland for my cubicle at work because its the very first cubicle every single employee sees when they walk through the door...I think that makes it my job to bring a smile to their face!


I printed, trimmed, and taped together my Colette Hawthorn pattern. Does anyone else think that Hawthorn should have an "e" on the end of it? 


And then I promptly cut out a size 6 -- the verdict is still out on whether this pattern runs enormous, like the Laurel. I'm making Version 1, a top, in a very lightweight white Swiss dot, perfect for summer!


I worked all week on taking this haphazard stack o' 30+ fabrics...


...and cutting it down to this. I hate cutting. Seriously. I wish it would curl up and die and that I had magical fairy properties that would allow me to just think of the shape that I wanted my fabric to be and then voila it would be that shape. Until then, I'll continue giving myself carpel tunnel.


But hey! I sewed 2 blocks. Only 19 left! And I love it!


I'm going to chain piece the rest, but I wanted to double check the process of sewing it all together first. I hope to have the remaining 19 blocks done by the end of the week...if I do some chain piecing every night it shouldn't be too bad :)

Happy Monday everyone!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

A super quick turnaround

I got out of my work training class really early yesterday.



Picked up my mail at 3:30. I NEEDED yardage of that Urban Mod print and then I threw in a cute little mini charm pack of The Boo Crew by Sweetwater.



I haven't had a chance to sew lately, so I threw off any responsibilities I might have had today and got to work. I added in some extra fabric and was cutting by 3:45.



My trusty helpers were by my side the entire time for moral support.



By 5 I had a completed pillow top! Those little monsters are so darn cute.



It's going to get some spiderweb quilting later tonight and then I'll be all set for Halloween!



I'm making simple patchwork pillows because I think they go with everything, so it will join my newest neutral patchwork pillow that was finished to be the constant pillow on the couch. Then I can just trade out smaller pillows for the holidays/season.

It felt so so good to just piece some squares. And by golly if that isn't the fastest I've ever used a fabric after receiving it :)


*linked with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced 

Monday, June 10, 2013

Sometimes you just need a small start

Thanks to my new job we've been shopping for some new living room furniture, and generally just sprucing the place up. While we sit on thousands of couches [I wish I was exaggerating] I can finally get some progress on a king-size quilt for my bed. 


I pulled lots of blues.


And I'm making an Irish Chain! I love the traditional look, but I don't think it's too traditional to go with the modern aesthetic that I love :)


Here's a gratuitous kitties-on-a-quilt picture. They're finally best friends, which means I can claim my sewing room back. We've been quarantining the new kitty in there while we introduced them to each other over the past 2 weeks.

Happy Tuesday folks!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

DIY coffee table tray!

Ok, so this isn't sewing related, beyond the fact that it would make a neat quilt pattern, but I thought I'd share in case anyone was looking for a cheap project!

A couple weeks ago, before I started my new job, my friend at work and I both took a Friday off to have a crafty day! We had hummus and veggies and cookies and creativity :)



I made this cute chevron tray that I LOVE. I've been wanting to make a tray for my coffee table that doubles as a good tray to carry my dinner out to the porch. And I specifically wanted my tray to be white and an aged silver.


I bought a tray at a craft store that was horrifically pink and then I spray painted it flat white. Taping the chevron pattern took a while but other than that it was really easy!

Then I simply sprayed the tray with the darker color and pulled away the tape!

There was some color bleeding, but I love the result anyways.

I bought the tray with a coupon for about $8 [although I know you can find big trays for super cheap at IKEA] and then bought 2 mini cans of spray paint for about $2 each. A custom tray for $12? Yes, please!



And it looks great with my teal teapot! :)