Sunday, October 27, 2013

I wasn't at Quilt Market but...

...I do already have a wish list of fabrics that were debuted!

The entire weekend I kept up on Instagram [I'm sewfestive on IG, although I use it for personal and sewing] and I kept telling anyone I was with when I saw a great fabric line. Except um, they didn't care.

But I know you guys care, so here is my Quilt Market drool-worthy fabric list:

Photo courtesy of The Little Red Hen
Botanics by Carolyn Friedlander

Oh.my.GAWD. I have been literally craving this fabric for over a month, since I first stumbled on a pre-order on some shop's website. AND GUYS. This collection also has some of the sketchy prints in 108"wide...backing my quilts in some of the best fabric ever? Um, yes please. I will be buying all of this. All that I can get my hands on.

Photo courtest of The Long Thread

Garden by Ellen Luckett Baker

Now this is a collection that I'm just really interested in some of the prints. Top left, top right, bottom right, and the raindrop print and the print under it. But I'm loving the mustard, cerise, gray, turquoise. I can totally see myself making some new pillow covers out of these prints, which are a canvas blend from Kokka.

Photo courtesy of Simplify
April Showers by Bonnie and Camille

I want all the great basics/blenders that this line has. Stripes, dots, ginghams...those are the fabrics that I use constantly.

Photo courtesy of Hawthorne Threads

Chromatics by AGF Studio

There are several prints in this line from past lines, but they're reproduced in multiple colorways. I, for one, want the above print in every single color. Yum.

Photo courtesy of Hawthorne Threads

Palos Verde Voile by A Creative Mint

I've been patiently waiting for that print to be released for several months. I'm not a patient person by nature. Also, note to self, must make a quilt in these colors!


Fabric that I want but can't find good enough pictures of:

-Wee Wander by Sarah Jane Studios
-Meadow by Leah Duncan [zomg the greens in this line look SO GOOD]
-Botanique by Joel Dewberry

And um, don't judge me, but I also want some prints from Lizzy House's Catnap, to make my kittyfluffs a pillow/bed.

So now that you know my deepest fabric desires...what about you?!



Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Who me? A quilter?

Oh, this is a quilting blog where I love to show off finished quilts?

Look, I finished a quilt! Finally!

But wait, it's a quilt I can't show off for 6 months...

The irony.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Precision

Precision by Sew Festive
Precision, a photo by Sew Festive on Flickr.

Ah, I love when I see personal growth. And that beautiful point up there, that's growth. Not paper pieced or anything!
I wish this were true all the way around in my life. September and October have been an exercise in patience. Sewing patience. I'm one of those people that moves in my head like a zillion miles per hour faster than I actually move...which leads to metaphorical and physical tripping. I had to ask for an extension on a deadline, which I HATE to do, on a personal level. The most amusing part? I set the deadline myself! I just always think and expect that people are wanting me to sew faster than I know I can. Le sigh.
But hey, I have beautiful points in my project. And I have salted caramel brownies. So life isn't all bad ;)

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

WIP Wednesday!

This is the story of how sometimes things don't need to be perfect.

You see, more than a year ago I bought a cute Halloween panel of Riley Blake fabric. I had grand plans, as we all do. I'd cute the scenes up and make wonky log cabins, etc etc. Unsurprisingly, I didn't get there last Halloween.

I was determined to have a Halloween pillow this year though. And I had a new 24" pillow form laying all naked on my couch. But I just had zero ideas. None. I now know from buying two panels that have sat unused, that I'm just not a panel gal.


So I sewed some of the scenes back together, slightly wonky, with some polka dot sashing. Very very veeerryy simple quilting to frame each square. And then I hit the binding stage and I said ew. I hate binding. I hate making it and doing it. So I knew that if I had to make binding out of that polka dot fabric like I planned, I'd never finish this pillow.

So I used a Kona cream color that was leftover binding from something else. And I made an envelope back because I just didn't want to fiddle with a zipper. Can I sound like any more of a lazy sewer than I was with this project?


So, moral of the story. This may not have all been the perfect use of this panel, or the perfect pillow cover, but I think it's adorable, it's actually on my couch, and not a single person who comes over is going to wonder why it's not more intricate than it is.


In the same spirit, I took some leftover AMH Field Study velveteen that I had and made a 16" pillow cover. It's simple, but it does the trick. And I love it too. I love the feeling and the color with my couch. I love that it will be on my couch all season to bring a little festivity. Oh, and that selvage on the back...perfect!

And isn't that the beauty of being able to make these things ourselves? That we can just make something else up if we decide we need a change? Yes, yes it is.

And because this is a hodge-podge of a post, why not throw in some Modern Maples progress:


This is already too big to be a pillow, so I guess it will be a quilt. Ha. I've decided I will just make up the other 6 leaf blocks without paying attention to size, just overall shape [I want a mixture of tall and wide] and then go back and make 3/4 log cabins without any leaves.

Just from making these 3 up I can tell you that this is pretty difficult for me. I like order, and not having a particular size or shape to go for is a little disconcerting. And I'm going to need to balance my color over the course of the blocks, so that the saturation is evenly spread out.

But I like it so far! :)

Happy Wednesday!

**Linked with WIP Wednesday